1. Marine litter on the beaches of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas: An assessment of their abundance, composition and sources.
- Author
-
Vlachogianni T, Fortibuoni T, Ronchi F, Zeri C, Mazziotti C, Tutman P, Varezić DB, Palatinus A, Trdan Š, Peterlin M, Mandić M, Markovic O, Prvan M, Kaberi H, Prevenios M, Kolitari J, Kroqi G, Fusco M, Kalampokis E, and Scoullos M
- Subjects
- Albania, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Oceans and Seas, Plastics, Slovenia, Bathing Beaches statistics & numerical data, Environmental Monitoring methods, Waste Products analysis, Water Pollution analysis
- Abstract
The abundance, composition and sources of marine litter were determined on beaches located in the seven countries of the Adriatic-Ionian macroregion, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. A total of 70,581 marine litter items were classified and recorded through one-year long surveys carried out in 31 sites. The average litter density of 0.67 items/m
2 found within this study is considered to be relatively high. The beaches investigated differed in terms of human-induced pressures; their majority is classified either as semi-urban or semi-rural, while very few beaches could be characterized as urban or remote/natural. The majority of litter items were made of artificial/anthropogenic polymer materials accounting for 91.1% of all litter. Litter from shoreline sources accounted for 33.4% of all litter collected. The amount of litter from sea-based sources ranged in the different countries from 1.54% to 14.84%, with an average of 6.30% at regional level., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF