The paradox of constant oceanic plastic debris: evidence for evolved microbial biodegradation?
| Autor: | Salva Duran-Nebreda, Jordi Piñero, Ricard V. Solé, Ernest Fontich, Blai Vidiella, Sergi Valverde, Raúl Montañez |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0303 health sciences
geography geography.geographical_feature_category Earth science Pelagic zone 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Debris 03 medical and health sciences 13. Climate action Ocean gyre Abundance (ecology) Environmental science 14. Life underwater Microbial biodegradation Constant (mathematics) Nonlinear coupling Microbial loop 030304 developmental biology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| DOI: | 10.1101/135582 |
| Popis: | Although the presence of vast amounts of plastic in the open ocean has generated great concern due to its potential ecological consequences, recent studies reveal that its measured abundance is much smaller than expected. Regional and global studies indicate that the difference between expected and actual estimates is enormous, suggesting that a large part of the plastic has been degraded by either physical and biotic processes. A paradoxical observation is the lack of a trend in plastic accumulation found in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, despite the rapid increase in plastic production and disposal. In this paper we show, using mathematical and computer models, that this observation could be explained by the nonlinear coupling between plastic (as a resource) and an evolved set of organisms (the consumers) capable of degrading it. The result is derived using two different resource-consumer mathematical approaches as well as a spatially-dependent plastic-microbial model incorporating a minimal hydrodynamical coupling with a two-dimensional fluid. The potential consequences of the evolution of marine plastic garbage and its removal are outlined. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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