Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem?
Lakes are the greatest reserve of available superficial inland fresh water and concurrently one of the most threatened ecosystems. Among the many pollutants, plastics contaminate lakes worldwide; notwithstanding that, little is known on the impacts of macroplastics. The aim of this work is to provid...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Water |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/1/60 |
| _version_ | 1797431102151852032 |
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| author | Alessandra Cera Luca Gallitelli Massimiliano Scalici |
| author_facet | Alessandra Cera Luca Gallitelli Massimiliano Scalici |
| author_sort | Alessandra Cera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lakes are the greatest reserve of available superficial inland fresh water and concurrently one of the most threatened ecosystems. Among the many pollutants, plastics contaminate lakes worldwide; notwithstanding that, little is known on the impacts of macroplastics. The aim of this work is to provide the first global overview of scientific articles researching macroplastic pollution in lakes. Articles were selected from Web of Science and Scopus databases. We performed a bibliometric analysis of the results on the publication trend, geographical distribution of study areas, investigated matrix (i.e., water, sediment, biota), as well as abundance and type (i.e., shape, litter category, polymer) of lacustrine macroplastics. We also compared the articles’ methodologies. Fourteen articles were collected (the publication trend is increasing in recent years), showing a diffuse contamination by macroplastics. Research efforts are mostly focused on shoreline assessments. There is a lack of information and methodological standardisation (i.e., macroplastic size definition, sampling protocol, shape, litter categories), which limits the comparison of article outputs. We propose the definition of lacustrine macroplastics as plastics >5 mm and the adoption of the UNEP/IOC protocol to sample lake shoreline. We suggest focusing future investigations on (1) testing the methodological standardisation, (2) understanding the factors influencing macroplastic dispersal, and (3) assessing the impacts on biota. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:38:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b55602c8d7874c5e89701b8dc8308773 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:38:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-b55602c8d7874c5e89701b8dc83087732023-12-02T01:13:43ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412022-12-011516010.3390/w15010060Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem?Alessandra Cera0Luca Gallitelli1Massimiliano Scalici2Institute of Freshwater Biology, Nagano University, Nagano 386-0031, JapanDepartment of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, 446 00146 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, 446 00146 Rome, ItalyLakes are the greatest reserve of available superficial inland fresh water and concurrently one of the most threatened ecosystems. Among the many pollutants, plastics contaminate lakes worldwide; notwithstanding that, little is known on the impacts of macroplastics. The aim of this work is to provide the first global overview of scientific articles researching macroplastic pollution in lakes. Articles were selected from Web of Science and Scopus databases. We performed a bibliometric analysis of the results on the publication trend, geographical distribution of study areas, investigated matrix (i.e., water, sediment, biota), as well as abundance and type (i.e., shape, litter category, polymer) of lacustrine macroplastics. We also compared the articles’ methodologies. Fourteen articles were collected (the publication trend is increasing in recent years), showing a diffuse contamination by macroplastics. Research efforts are mostly focused on shoreline assessments. There is a lack of information and methodological standardisation (i.e., macroplastic size definition, sampling protocol, shape, litter categories), which limits the comparison of article outputs. We propose the definition of lacustrine macroplastics as plastics >5 mm and the adoption of the UNEP/IOC protocol to sample lake shoreline. We suggest focusing future investigations on (1) testing the methodological standardisation, (2) understanding the factors influencing macroplastic dispersal, and (3) assessing the impacts on biota.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/1/60lacustrine macroplasticslakesfreshwaterplastic pollutionmeta-analysismethodology |
| spellingShingle | Alessandra Cera Luca Gallitelli Massimiliano Scalici Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? Water lacustrine macroplastics lakes freshwater plastic pollution meta-analysis methodology |
| title | Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? |
| title_full | Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? |
| title_fullStr | Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? |
| title_short | Macroplastics in Lakes: An Underrepresented Ecological Problem? |
| title_sort | macroplastics in lakes an underrepresented ecological problem |
| topic | lacustrine macroplastics lakes freshwater plastic pollution meta-analysis methodology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/1/60 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alessandracera macroplasticsinlakesanunderrepresentedecologicalproblem AT lucagallitelli macroplasticsinlakesanunderrepresentedecologicalproblem AT massimilianoscalici macroplasticsinlakesanunderrepresentedecologicalproblem |