Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution
Macroplastic pollution (> 0.5 cm) negatively impacts aquatic life and threatens human livelihood on land, in oceans and river systems. Reliable information on the origin, fate and pathways of plastic in river systems is required to optimize prevention, mitigation and reduction strategies. Yet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00298/full |
| _version_ | 1818774694045679616 |
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| author | Tim van Emmerik Jan Seibert Jan Seibert Barbara Strobl Simon Etter Tijmen den Oudendammer Martine Rutten Martine Rutten Mohd Shahrizal bin Ab Razak Ilja van Meerveld |
| author_facet | Tim van Emmerik Jan Seibert Jan Seibert Barbara Strobl Simon Etter Tijmen den Oudendammer Martine Rutten Martine Rutten Mohd Shahrizal bin Ab Razak Ilja van Meerveld |
| author_sort | Tim van Emmerik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macroplastic pollution (> 0.5 cm) negatively impacts aquatic life and threatens human livelihood on land, in oceans and river systems. Reliable information on the origin, fate and pathways of plastic in river systems is required to optimize prevention, mitigation and reduction strategies. Yet, accurate and long-term data on plastic transport are still lacking. Current macroplastic monitoring strategies involve labor intensive sampling methods, require investment in infrastructure, and are therefore infrequent. Crowd-based observations of riverine macroplastic pollution may potentially provide frequent cost-effective data collection over a large geographical range. We extended the CrowdWater citizen science app for hydrological observations with a module for observations of plastic in rivers. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of crowd-based observations of floating macroplastic and macroplastic on riverbanks. We analyzed data from two case studies: (1) floating plastic measured in the Klang (Malaysia), and (2) plastic on riverbanks along the Rhine (the Netherlands). Crowd-based observations of floating plastic in the Klang yield similar estimates of plastic transport (2,000–3,000 items h−1), cross-sectional distribution (3–7 percent point difference) and polymer categories (0–6 percent point difference) as reference observations. It also highlighted the high temporal variation in riverine plastic transport. The riverbank observations provided the first data of macroplastic pollution on the most downstream stretch of the Rhine, revealing peaks close to urban areas and an increasing plastic density toward the river mouth. The mean riverbank density estimates are also similar for the crowd-based and reference methods (573–1,033 items km−1). These results highlight the value of including crowd-based riverine macroplastic observations in future monitoring strategies. Crowd-based observations may provide reliable estimations of plastic transport, density, spatiotemporal variation and composition for a larger number of locations than conventional methods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:45:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-895a482f62384116964d66a9b6525db7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T10:45:13Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-895a482f62384116964d66a9b6525db72022-12-21T21:10:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632020-08-01810.3389/feart.2020.00298534420Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic PollutionTim van Emmerik0Jan Seibert1Jan Seibert2Barbara Strobl3Simon Etter4Tijmen den Oudendammer5Martine Rutten6Martine Rutten7Mohd Shahrizal bin Ab Razak8Ilja van Meerveld9Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NetherlandsDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Built Environment, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam, NetherlandsInstitute of Built Environment, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, NetherlandsDepartment of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, MalaysiaDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandMacroplastic pollution (> 0.5 cm) negatively impacts aquatic life and threatens human livelihood on land, in oceans and river systems. Reliable information on the origin, fate and pathways of plastic in river systems is required to optimize prevention, mitigation and reduction strategies. Yet, accurate and long-term data on plastic transport are still lacking. Current macroplastic monitoring strategies involve labor intensive sampling methods, require investment in infrastructure, and are therefore infrequent. Crowd-based observations of riverine macroplastic pollution may potentially provide frequent cost-effective data collection over a large geographical range. We extended the CrowdWater citizen science app for hydrological observations with a module for observations of plastic in rivers. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of crowd-based observations of floating macroplastic and macroplastic on riverbanks. We analyzed data from two case studies: (1) floating plastic measured in the Klang (Malaysia), and (2) plastic on riverbanks along the Rhine (the Netherlands). Crowd-based observations of floating plastic in the Klang yield similar estimates of plastic transport (2,000–3,000 items h−1), cross-sectional distribution (3–7 percent point difference) and polymer categories (0–6 percent point difference) as reference observations. It also highlighted the high temporal variation in riverine plastic transport. The riverbank observations provided the first data of macroplastic pollution on the most downstream stretch of the Rhine, revealing peaks close to urban areas and an increasing plastic density toward the river mouth. The mean riverbank density estimates are also similar for the crowd-based and reference methods (573–1,033 items km−1). These results highlight the value of including crowd-based riverine macroplastic observations in future monitoring strategies. Crowd-based observations may provide reliable estimations of plastic transport, density, spatiotemporal variation and composition for a larger number of locations than conventional methods.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00298/fullcitizen sciencehydrologyplasticmarine litterriverbank plasticfloating debris |
| spellingShingle | Tim van Emmerik Jan Seibert Jan Seibert Barbara Strobl Simon Etter Tijmen den Oudendammer Martine Rutten Martine Rutten Mohd Shahrizal bin Ab Razak Ilja van Meerveld Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution Frontiers in Earth Science citizen science hydrology plastic marine litter riverbank plastic floating debris |
| title | Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution |
| title_full | Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution |
| title_fullStr | Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution |
| title_short | Crowd-Based Observations of Riverine Macroplastic Pollution |
| title_sort | crowd based observations of riverine macroplastic pollution |
| topic | citizen science hydrology plastic marine litter riverbank plastic floating debris |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2020.00298/full |
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