Volta

Exploring the effects of plastic pollution on benthic macroinvertebrates in a stream mesocosm experiment

Most plastic pollution is hypothesized to be transported through urban rivers toward sinks like lakes and oceans, yet its effect on ecological communities within these systems remains poorly understood. Additionally, we do not know how changes in flow alter the exposure landscape of biota to plastic-potentially impacting effects. Here, we conducted a 28-day flow-through stream mesocosm experiment (length: 2 m, width: 0.4 m, depth: 0.3 m; N = 8, n = 2 replicate streams per treatment) to investigate the effects of plastic pollution and stream flow on the density, emergence, diversity, and function of benthic macroinvertebrates. We exposed a natural community of benthic macroinvertebrates to a single environmentally relevant mixture and concentration of microplastics (<5 mm) and macroplastics (>5 mm) …

Reference & gravity metrics

Secondary-market trade history

References (0)

Cited by (1)