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Quantifying temporal trends in anthropogenic litter in a rocky intertidal habitat.


ABSTRACT: Most monitoring studies of marine anthropogenic debris have focused on sandy beaches, so little is known about litter on rocky shorelines. We surveyed litter trapped on a rocky intertidal shore in False Bay, South Africa, between May 2015 and March 2018. An exceptional upwelling of seabed litter occurred in November 2017 (70 items?m-1). Excluding this event, monthly clean-ups at spring low tide collected 2 (1.3-3.1) items?m-1?month-1 and 31 (19.4-49.4) g?m-1?month-1 of which 74% was plastic (31% by mass). Litter loads peaked in autumn when seasonal rains washed litter into False Bay, suggesting that most litter comes from local land-based sources. Litter composition differed from that on a nearby sandy beach, with more glass and other dense items on the rocky shore, but 60% of plastic items floated in water. Sand inundation and biotic interactions helped to trap buoyant plastics in the intertidal zone.

SUBMITTER: Weideman EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7441897 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantifying temporal trends in anthropogenic litter in a rocky intertidal habitat.

Weideman Eleanor A EA   Perold Vonica V   Omardien Aaniyah A   Smyth Lucy K LK   Ryan Peter G PG  

Marine pollution bulletin 20200821


Most monitoring studies of marine anthropogenic debris have focused on sandy beaches, so little is known about litter on rocky shorelines. We surveyed litter trapped on a rocky intertidal shore in False Bay, South Africa, between May 2015 and March 2018. An exceptional upwelling of seabed litter occurred in November 2017 (70 items∙m<sup>-1</sup>). Excluding this event, monthly clean-ups at spring low tide collected 2 (1.3-3.1) items∙m<sup>-1</sup>∙month<sup>-1</sup> and 31 (19.4-49.4) g∙m<sup>-1  ...[more]

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