Mistaking plastic for zooplankton: Risk assessment of plastic ingestion in the Mediterranean sea

Low-Density Plastic Debris Dispersion beneath the Mediterranean Sea Surface

“…All in all, our results point to the fact that LDP debris may persist in the water column for time windows larger than previously suspected (e.g., refs and ) and travels for hundreds of kilometers. This can increase their bioavailability and their potential negative impact for marine biota. , This study provides an upper limit for the LDP sinking speed that can be used to constrain future plastic-tracking studies. Further information on concentration of LDP in the water column and on the seafloor as well as observations of in situ sinking speeds are urgently needed, given the potential damage of plastic debris on pelagic and benthic ecosystems.…”

Microplastics in the maximum chlorophyll layer along a north-south transect in the Mediterranean Sea in comparison with zooplankton concentrations

“…The observation of MPs at the surface is widely documented and is now carried out in accordance with standards (Hanke et al, 2013). In the Mediterranean, it is estimated that MPs are found over almost all the sea-surface (Collignon et al, 2012;Fabri-Ruiz et al, 2023).…”

“…The zooplankton/microplastic ratio is considered a valid index of the impact of MPs on planktonic biota (Gerigny et al, 2022), and can be used to characterize a potential impact of microplastics loading on the prey available to planktivorous fish (Fabri-Ruiz et al, 2023).…”

“…The fate of MPs in the pelagic food chain is also of great interest, as the size spectrum of MPs ranges from hundreds of µm to a few mm, and shows a strong overlap with the size spectrum of planktivorous fish prey (Chen et al, 2022). However, potential risks for planktivorous fishes ingesting MPs are inferred from potential predation at the surface (e.g., Fabri-Ruiz et al, 2023), while major trophic interactions occur on zooplankton patches within the water column (Benoit-Bird, 2009;Möller et al, 2012). Studies combining MPs sampling within layers of the water column and observation in planktivorous fish guts are still very rare (Lefebrve et al, 2019).…”

Identifying Potential High-Risk Zones for Land-Derived Plastic Litter to Marine Megafauna and Key Habitats within the North Atlantic

“…Høiberg et al (2022) mapped the prevalence of plastic entanglement for multiple marine megafauna species against the spatial distribution of floating plastic debris to develop a species sensitivity distribution, whilst Compa et al (2019) used species life history traits to assess the sensitivity of multiple taxa in the Mediterranean, and coupled this with their home ranges and plastic exposure. Fabri-Ruiz et al (2023) used the plastic: zooplankton ratio as a method of assessing risk to pelagic fish and marine megafauna in the Mediterranean.…”