Seagrass beds acting as a trap of microplastics - Emerging hotspot in the coastal region?

Abstract

Microplastics is an emerging environmental problem in the world. However, presence and fate of microplastics in seagrass meadows are barely known. In this study, the abundance and diversity of microplastic from Enhalus acodoides vegetated sites and bare sites were quantified and characterized in Xincun bay and Li'an bay, Hainan, China. Microplastics ranged from 80.0 to 884.5 particles per kg of dry sediment, and fibers were the dominant shape. The most frequent colors of microplastics were blue, transparent and black. The dominant size of microplastics was in the range of 125-250 μm. And the seagrass sediments were enriched in microplastics 2.1 and 2.9 times for Xincun bay and Li'an bay, respectively. The trap effect of seagrass was non-selective regarding the shape, color and size of microplastics. High anthropogenic pollution and poor beach management may contribute to higher concentrations of microplastics in Li'an bay.

Keywords: Enrichment; Microplastics; Seagrass; Trap effect.