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Extraction, Analysis, And Comparison Of Microplastics In Sc Marsh Substrates, Austin G. Sige
Extraction, Analysis, And Comparison Of Microplastics In Sc Marsh Substrates, Austin G. Sige
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The global, rapid increase in plastic production is a widespread problem for coastal environments such as marshes that present favorable conditions for plastic retention. This study looked at the microplastic abundance within three previously unstudied South Carolina marshes located in Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, and Waties Island. A comparison between the microplastic types and abundances between locations provided knowledge about the impacts of sediment composition (sand, silt, clay, and organic matter) on microplastic sequestration. This study also produced a novel microplastic extraction methodology for cohesive marsh sediment that used elutriation to effectively break apart aggregates prior to chemical digestion and …
Microplastic Accumulation In Terrestrial Gastropods And Soils, Gregory B. Bonilla
Microplastic Accumulation In Terrestrial Gastropods And Soils, Gregory B. Bonilla
Masters Theses
Microplastics (MPs) have become an emerging threat to ecosystems across the world. Transport, impacts, and fates are grossly understudied, especially in terrestrial environments. Current research on MP bioaccumulation has focused mainly on aquatic organisms with little study of terrestrial organisms, including snails where data are nearly nonexistent. To address this, we collected and examined land snails and their surrounding soil for MP content in shell and tissue. From September 11, 2020, to October 25, 2021, cover boards were placed (n=30) along relatively undisturbed sites in hardwood, forested areas, and tall grasses in a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Oak Ridge …
Microplastic Fiber Abundance For South Carolina White Shrimp, Litopenaeus Setiferus, Across Two Habitats, Adriene Funck
Microplastic Fiber Abundance For South Carolina White Shrimp, Litopenaeus Setiferus, Across Two Habitats, Adriene Funck
Honors Theses
Coastal South Carolina is a prime destination for shrimping. The commercial White Shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, is one of the main species found in South Carolina estuaries and coastline. There are commercial and recreation fishing practices in South Carolina for L. setiferus, making it a species of interest for the public. Microplastics are additionally a large interest in the public and scientific community for research and solutions. The threats of plastic pollution are not fully understood in the marine environment, but there has been a boom of research discussing various effects and distributions of microplastics in the ocean recently. Shrimp species …
Type Of Synthetic Microfiber Influences Ingestion By Freshwater Worms, Sarah A. Martinez
Type Of Synthetic Microfiber Influences Ingestion By Freshwater Worms, Sarah A. Martinez
Honors College Theses
Plastics enter the environment from many sources, including clothing made from synthetic textiles, which shed a form of microplastics (microfibers) during their production, use and disposal. The impacts of microfibers on freshwater organisms are relatively unknown, therefore we tested the hypothesis that short- and long-term effects of microfibers on the aquatic worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, depend on the type of synthetic microfiber present. Microcosms containing L. variegatus, sediment and water were exposed to either no fibers (control) or one of three microfiber treatments (nylon, polyester or olefin) at the same concentration for 48 hours or 28 days. At the …
Impacts Of Plastic Pollution On A Pelagic Marine Mammal, The Northern Elephant Seal, Lauren M. Kashiwabara
Impacts Of Plastic Pollution On A Pelagic Marine Mammal, The Northern Elephant Seal, Lauren M. Kashiwabara
University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations
As plastic pollution increases, top marine predators such as marine mammals are becoming increasingly susceptible to plastic particles and their additives. Plastic particles have been found in gastrointestinal tracts and scat of many marine mammals, and quantifying plastic pollution in those that are pelagic can provide insight into plastic pollution in mesopelagic ecosystems that are just beginning to be analyzed. Adapting well-developed laboratory techniques for microplastic (MP) isolation (i.e. density separation and chemical digestion), I isolated MPs from the scat of the deepest diving pinniped, the northern elephant seal (NES), and found that100% of scat samples (n=11) contained high counts …
Longitudinal Patterns Of Microplastic Abundance And Potential For Food Web Uptake In The Yakima River, Janell Shah
Longitudinal Patterns Of Microplastic Abundance And Potential For Food Web Uptake In The Yakima River, Janell Shah
All Master's Theses
Microplastic (MP) pollutes environments worldwide, but the ecological consequences remain largely unknown. While MP research has historically focused on marine environments, recent work has increasingly investigated rivers as transporters of MP from terrestrial sources to the ocean. Some studies have documented instances of MP consumption in a river food web, but few have investigated multiple consumers at different points along a river continuum. This study enumerated the MP abundance in the water column, biofilm, and four macroinvertebrate families from different functional feeding groups across nine sites spanning 344 kilometers from the headwaters to the mouth of the Yakima River in …