Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling
Tyre wear particles are a significant source of primary microplastics in the natural environment with the potential to accumulate in aquatic sediments, yet our understanding of the ecological impact of these particles is limited. Using mesocosms of estuarine sediment containing a model macrofauna co...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/181 |
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| author | Charlotte Woodhouse Dannielle Senga Green Andy Foggo Paul J. Somerfield Richard C. Thompson Samantha L. Garrard |
| author_facet | Charlotte Woodhouse Dannielle Senga Green Andy Foggo Paul J. Somerfield Richard C. Thompson Samantha L. Garrard |
| author_sort | Charlotte Woodhouse |
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| description | Tyre wear particles are a significant source of primary microplastics in the natural environment with the potential to accumulate in aquatic sediments, yet our understanding of the ecological impact of these particles is limited. Using mesocosms of estuarine sediment containing a model macrofauna community (<i>Scrobicularia plana</i> and <i>Hediste diversicolor</i>), meiofauna, and microphytobenthos, we investigated the impact of exposure to sedimentary tyre particles (0.2, 1, and 5% kg sediment(dw)<sup>−1</sup>) upon meiofauna community structure, primary production, secondary production, and nutrient fluxes. Under the conditions (13 °C) and timescale (31 days) investigated, exposure to sedimentary tyre particles did not lead to any significant differences in nutrients for primary productivity, with limited impact on meiofaunal secondary productivity. An increase in Tanaidacea was observed in 1% and 5% tyre particle treatments, putatively due to reduced macrofaunal predation. Previous studies have highlighted the ecotoxicity of tyre wear particles. The limited impacts on meiofauna may be due to our experimental particles being too large for meiofauna to ingest or the timescale of the experiment being too short to witness changes at the community scale. Impacts from tyre particle leachates were likely limited due to dilution in the partial recirculation system. Leachate dilution will occur naturally in marine systems and should be a consideration in the design of future studies. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3407b6561bd4dd8b6341988110e8dca2025-01-24T13:37:09ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-01-0113118110.3390/jmse13010181Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient CyclingCharlotte Woodhouse0Dannielle Senga Green1Andy Foggo2Paul J. Somerfield3Richard C. Thompson4Samantha L. Garrard5Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UKApplied Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UKSchool of Biological and Marine Sciences, Davy Building, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UKPlymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UKSchool of Biological and Marine Sciences, Davy Building, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UKPlymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UKTyre wear particles are a significant source of primary microplastics in the natural environment with the potential to accumulate in aquatic sediments, yet our understanding of the ecological impact of these particles is limited. Using mesocosms of estuarine sediment containing a model macrofauna community (<i>Scrobicularia plana</i> and <i>Hediste diversicolor</i>), meiofauna, and microphytobenthos, we investigated the impact of exposure to sedimentary tyre particles (0.2, 1, and 5% kg sediment(dw)<sup>−1</sup>) upon meiofauna community structure, primary production, secondary production, and nutrient fluxes. Under the conditions (13 °C) and timescale (31 days) investigated, exposure to sedimentary tyre particles did not lead to any significant differences in nutrients for primary productivity, with limited impact on meiofaunal secondary productivity. An increase in Tanaidacea was observed in 1% and 5% tyre particle treatments, putatively due to reduced macrofaunal predation. Previous studies have highlighted the ecotoxicity of tyre wear particles. The limited impacts on meiofauna may be due to our experimental particles being too large for meiofauna to ingest or the timescale of the experiment being too short to witness changes at the community scale. Impacts from tyre particle leachates were likely limited due to dilution in the partial recirculation system. Leachate dilution will occur naturally in marine systems and should be a consideration in the design of future studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/181microplasticsmarine plastic pollutiontyre wearecosystem functioningmeiofaunacommunity structure |
| spellingShingle | Charlotte Woodhouse Dannielle Senga Green Andy Foggo Paul J. Somerfield Richard C. Thompson Samantha L. Garrard Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling Journal of Marine Science and Engineering microplastics marine plastic pollution tyre wear ecosystem functioning meiofauna community structure |
| title | Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling |
| title_full | Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling |
| title_fullStr | Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling |
| title_short | Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling |
| title_sort | minimal impacts of tyre particle exposure on estuarine meiofaunal community structure primary production and nutrient cycling |
| topic | microplastics marine plastic pollution tyre wear ecosystem functioning meiofauna community structure |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/181 |
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