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Ingestion and impact of microplastics on arctic Calanus copepods
- Source :
- Rodriguez Torres, R, Almeda, R, Kristiansen, M, Rist, S, Winding, M S & Nielsen, T G 2020, ' Ingestion and impact of microplastics on arctic Calanus copepods ', Aquatic Toxicology, vol. 228, 105631 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2020.105631, Aquatic Toxicology
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Microplastics (MPs) are contaminants of emerging concern in the Arctic, but knowledge of their potential effects on Arctic plankton food webs remains scarce. We experimentally investigated ingestion and effects of MPs (20 μm polyethylene spheres) on the arctic copepodsCalanus finmarchicus, C. glacialisandC. hyperboreus. These species dominate arctic zooplankton biomass and are relevant target species to investigate the potential impacts of MPs on the Arctic marine ecosystem. Females of each species were exposed to two concentrations of MPs (200 and 20,000 MPs L−1) in combination with different food (diatom) concentrations, reflecting high (3000–5000 cells mL−1, spring phytoplankton bloom) and low (50–500 cells mL−1, pre/post bloom) food conditions. MPs did not affect negatively fecal pellet production rates in any of the species at the studied exposure concentrations. However, egg production rates of copepods exposed to MPs were 8 times higher compared with the controls, which suggests that MP exposure can cause stress-induced spawning in arctic copepods. Microscopic examination of the fecal pellets confirmed ingested MPs in the three species (up to aprox. 1000 MPs cop−1d−1). The number of MPs per pellet decreased exponentially with increasing food concentration. The daily ingestion of MPs per copepod was higher at low- food concentrations (250–500 cells mL−1). At our exposure conditions, the presence of MPs insideC. hyperboreusfecal pellets did not affect their sinking rates. Overall, our experimental research show that 1) acute exposure to virgin polyethylene MPs has a low impact on arcticCalanusspecies at environmentally relevant MP concentrations, independent of food availability, and 2) arctic copepods influence the environmental fate of plankton-sized MPs by exporting buoyant MPs from the surface layer to the sea floor via fecal pellets.
- Subjects :
- Egg production
congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities
Microplastics
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Calanus finmarchicus
Zoology
010501 environmental sciences
Aquatic Science
01 natural sciences
Algal bloom
Copepoda
Eating
Feces
03 medical and health sciences
Animals
14. Life underwater
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
skin and connective tissue diseases
Microplastic ingestion
Ecosystem
Ovum
030304 developmental biology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
0303 health sciences
biology
Arctic Regions
Chemistry
digestive, oral, and skin physiology
fungi
nutritional and metabolic diseases
Fecal pellet production
Plankton
Arctic copepods
biology.organism_classification
Diatom
Arctic
13. Climate action
Calanus
Female
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Copepod
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Rodriguez Torres, R, Almeda, R, Kristiansen, M, Rist, S, Winding, M S & Nielsen, T G 2020, ' Ingestion and impact of microplastics on arctic Calanus copepods ', Aquatic Toxicology, vol. 228, 105631 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2020.105631, Aquatic Toxicology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d85d4bc32f9e97c645e4a3027aa12e9e