Over het archief
Het OWA, het open archief van het Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium heeft tot doel alle vrij toegankelijke onderzoeksresultaten van dit instituut in digitale vorm aan te bieden. Op die manier wil het de zichtbaarheid, verspreiding en gebruik van deze onderzoeksresultaten, alsook de wetenschappelijke communicatie maximaal bevorderen.
Dit archief wordt uitgebouwd en beheerd volgens de principes van de Open Access Movement, en het daaruit ontstane Open Archives Initiative.
Basisinformatie over ‘Open Access to scholarly information'.
| one publication added to basket [295112] |
Dissolved organic carbon leaching from plastics stimulates microbial activity in the ocean
Romera-Castillo, C.; Pinto, M.; Langer, T.M.; Alvarez-Salgado, X.A.; Herndl, G. (2018). Dissolved organic carbon leaching from plastics stimulates microbial activity in the ocean. Nature Comm. 9(1): 7 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03798-5
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, meer
|   |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Romera-Castillo, C.
- Pinto, M.
- Langer, T.M.
|
- Alvarez-Salgado, X.A.
- Herndl, G., meer
|
|
| Abstract |
Approximately 5.25 trillion plastic pieces are floating at the sea surface. The impact of plastic pollution on the lowest trophic levels of the food web, however, remains unknown. Here we show that plastics release dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into the ambient seawater stimulating the activity of heterotrophic microbes. Our estimates indicate that globally up to 23,600 metric tons of DOC are leaching from marine plastics annually. About 60% of it is available to microbial utilization in less than 5 days. If exposed to solar radiation, however, this DOC becomes less labile. Thus, plastic pollution of marine surface waters likely alters the composition and activity of the base of the marine food webs. It is predicted that plastic waste entering the ocean will increase by a factor of ten within the next decade, resulting in an increase in plastic-derived DOC that might have unaccounted consequences for marine microbes and for the ocean system. |
IMIS is ontwikkeld en wordt gehost door het VLIZ.
