Macro- and microplastics as complex threats to coral reef ecosystems

Wei Zhang; Yong Sik Ok; Michael S Bank; Christian Sonne

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.107914

Macro- and microplastics as complex threats to coral reef ecosystems

Environ Int. 2023 Apr:174:107914. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107914. Epub 2023 Apr 2.

Authors

Wei Zhang¹, Yong Sik Ok², Michael S Bank³, Christian Sonne⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management & Division of Environmental Science & Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
² Korea Biochar Research Center, APRU Sustainable Waste Management & Division of Environmental Science & Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea. Electronic address: yongsikok@korea.ac.kr.
³ Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway; University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark; Sustainability Cluster, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248007, India.

PMID: 37028266
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107914

Abstract

The impacts of macroplastics (macro-), microplastics (MPs, <5mm), and nanoplastics (NPs, <100 nm) on corals and their complex reef ecosystems are receiving increased attention and visibility. MPs represent a major, contemporary, sustainability challenge with known and unknown effects on the ocean, and coral reef ecosystems worldwide. However, the fate and transport processes of macro-, MPs, and NPs and their direct and indirect impacts on coral reef ecosystems remains poorly understood. In this study, we verify and briefly summarize MPs distribution and pollution patterns in coral reefs from various geographical regions and discuss potential risks. The main interaction mechanisms show that MPs may substantially affect coral feeding performance, proper skeletal formation, and overall nutrition and, thus, there is an urgent need to address this rapidly growing environmental problem. From a management perspective, macro-, MPs, and NPs should, ideally, all be included in environmental monitoring frameworks, as possible, to aid in identifying those geographical areas that are most heavily impacted and to support future prioritization of conservation efforts. The potential solutions to the macro-, MP, and NP pollution problem include raising public awareness of plastic pollution, developing robust, environmental, conservation efforts, promoting a circular economy, and propelling industry-supported technological innovations to reduce plastic use and consumption. Global actions to curb plastic inputs, and releases of macro-, MP, and NP particles, and their associated chemicals, to the environment are desperately needed to secure the overall health of coral reef ecosystems and their inhabitants. Global scale horizon scans, gap analyses, and other future actions are necessary to gain and increase momentum to properly address this massive environmental problem and are in good accordance with several relevant UN sustainable development goals to sustain planetary health.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Climate change; Coral reef; Macroplastics; Microplastic; Sustainability.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anthozoa*
Coral Reefs*
Ecosystem
Microplastics
Plastics

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics