Modelled broad-scale shifts on seafloor ecosystem functioning due to microplastic impacts on bioturbation.

ABSTRACT: Bioturbating species play an essential role in regulating nutrient cycling in marine sediments, but their interaction with microplastics (MP) remains poorly understood. Here we investigated the linkage between MP and ecosystem functioning using experimental observations of luminophore distribution in the sediment to parametrize bioturbation coefficients (D_b). this information as fed into a simplified transport-reaction model, allowing us to upscale our experimental results. We found that the composition of bioturbators modulated shifts in the ecosystem functioning under microplastic stress. Maldanid worms (Macroclymenella stewartensis), functionally deep burrowing and upward-conveyor belt feeders, became less active. The D_b of M. stewartensis reduced by 25% with the a

SUBMITTER: You Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10564913 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature