Impact of storms and proximity to entry points on marine litter and wrack accumulation along Mediterranean beaches: Management implications

Understanding through drone image analysis the interactions between geomorphology, vegetation and marine debris along a sandy spit

“…Moreover, marine litter items were generally more abundant on the coastal side and in particular in beach wracks (when present) and in vegetated dune systems, suggesting the important role of the eco/geomorphological elements in trapping litter, as observed by Battisti et al, 2020;Gonçalves et al, 2020;Chubarenko et al, 2021;Cesarini et al, 2021;Sanchez-Vidal et al, 2021;Menicagli et al, 2022). For instance, Di Febbraro et al ( 2021) and de Francesco et al ( 2018) found that marine litter accumulation follows a sea-inland gradient, while Cesarini et al (2021) reported a positive correlation between vegetal wrack and plastics, and consequently a greater weight of beached vegetation suggests a greater weight of plastic in the same area.…”

“…For instance, Di Febbraro et al ( 2021) and de Francesco et al ( 2018) found that marine litter accumulation follows a sea-inland gradient, while Cesarini et al (2021) reported a positive correlation between vegetal wrack and plastics, and consequently a greater weight of beached vegetation suggests a greater weight of plastic in the same area. Menicagli et al (2022) found that items, consisting of fragmented plastics, microplastic particles and polystyrene, collected along Mediterranean beaches were trapped in the natural wrack, while Gonçalves et al (2020) observed that marine litter was deposited chiefly around dune plants.…”

Wrack line formation and composition on shores of a large Alpine lake: The role of littoral topography and wave exposure

“…Similarly, in the brackish semi-enclosed Baltic Sea, which has mainly wind-driven tides, the litter distribution on the beaches is related to the presence of beach wrack lines [ 119 ]: about 70% of litter items was found with wrack lines and 30% on or within the bare substrate. Menicagli et al [ 34 ] found that the beach litter density was positively correlated to the proximity of major harbors on Mediterranean coasts while its composition was related to the proximity to both major harbors and rivers. However, our observations on Lake Constance-Obersee did not support these relationships.…”

“…phytomass productivity [108] not included in the model approximately the same for the meadows of all Chara species growth form [35] not included in the model approximately the same for all Chara species phenology, senescence [31,37,40,96] not included in the model approximately the same for all Chara species conditions in upland donor sites proximity to inflows [34] not relevant for 19 out of 20 sites one site with a creek mouth nearby proximity to settlements not included in the model nearby settlements in all sites conditions of detachment and transport resistance of the plant organs against detach-ment and erosion [109][110][111] not included in the model approximately the same for all Chara species wave forces [28] total effective fetch (TEF); total wind exposure (TWE'3); wind wave exposure (WWE15), ship wave exposure (DCAT) buoyancy of the donor material [112] not included in the model negative buoyancy for the stems of all Chara species and for other materials conditions in the recipient system tidal system [31,36] not relevant no diurnal water level changes in Lake Constance beach exposure [31,40,113] shoreline exposure (ES)…”

“…These marine wracks consist of varying amounts of torn plant material (macroalgae, seagrass, reed stems and salt marsh plants), animal remains (e.g. mollusc shells), driftwood washed in via tributaries, and anthropogenic waste, particularly plastics [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Wrack line formation is dependent on (1) the availability of suitable material and its physical properties (e. g. buoyancy), (2) hydrodynamic transport conditions, both offshore (waves, nearshore currents) and nearshore (surf and wave run-up) [35][36][37], and (3) shore morphology (inclination, hydraulic roughness) [31,35,[38][39][40].…”