Scavenging as a pathway for plastic ingestion by marine animals
| Autor: | Agnaldo Silva Martins, Davi Teles, Robson Guimarães dos Santos, Ryan Andrades, Roberta Aguiar dos Santos |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Food Chain
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Foraging Wildlife 010501 environmental sciences Biology Toxicology 01 natural sciences Marine pollution Eating Marine debris Animals Ingestion Water Pollutants Marine ecosystem Atlantic Ocean Scavenging Ecosystem 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Waste Products Ecology Decapodiformes Feeding Behavior General Medicine Pollution Gastrointestinal Contents Turtles Plastic pollution Plastics |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Pollution. 248:159-165 |
| ISSN: | 0269-7491 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.02.010 |
| Popis: | Plastic pollution is prevalent worldwide and affects marine wildlife from urbanized beaches to pristine oceanic islands. However, the ecological basis and mechanisms that result in marine animal ingestion of plastic debris are still relatively unknown, despite recent advances. We investigated the relationship between scavenging behavior and plastic ingestion using green turtles, Chelonia mydas, as a model. Diet analysis of C. mydas showed that sea turtles engaging in scavenging behavior ingested significantly more plastic debris than individuals that did not engage in this foraging strategy. We argue that opportunistic scavenging behavior, an adaptive behavior in most marine ecosystems, may now pose a threat to a variety of marine animals due to the current widespread plastic pollution found in oceans. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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