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Thesis
Quantifying Microplastic Concentration of Invertebrates from Three Antarctic Fjords
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Microplastics, small pieces of plastic measuring less than five millimeters, have infiltrated all ecosystems. Marine life is at especially high risk for microplastic contamination due to oceanic transport of these plastics through currents and gyres. Potential risks to plastic exposure include issues with feeding, endocrine disruption, and exposure to adsorbed toxins, which all lead to lower fecundity and survivability. Because microplastics are ubiquitous, this means that organisms inhabiting isolated environments, such as the Southern Ocean, are not excluded from these risks. Fjords, which are inlets created by deglaciation, offer new areas for organisms to inhabit. Invertebrate organisms, such as ascidians, mollusks, crustaceans, and echinoderms, are important for community establishment during successional processes because they are early settlers, and invertebrates form the bottom of the food web allowing inhabitation of larger organisms. Invertebrates were collected during 2017 and 2020 from three fjords along the Western Antarctic Peninsula via a mini Agassiz trawl to quantify microplastic concentrations in Antarctic invertebrate organisms, discern differences between microplastic concentration and feeding mechanism, as well as compare organismal concentrations to water samples taken from the same fjords. Microplastics were identified in invertebrate organisms when compared to controls (p < 0.001), but feeding mechanism was not found to be a predictor of microplastic concentration. Microplastics concentrations in invertebrates differed between fjords in 2017 (p = 0.010). While not statistically compared, there were similarities in microplastic type, color, and polymer composition between water samples and organismal samples
Details
- Title
- Quantifying Microplastic Concentration of Invertebrates from Three Antarctic Fjords
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Alexis M Janosik (Committee Chair)Christopher M Pomory (Committee Member)Justine M Whitaker (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 57
- Copyright
- © 2023 Natalie E. Simmons
- Identifiers
- 99380482393706600
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Science (MS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida