ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1592801
This article is part of the Research TopicMarine Microplastics and their epibiotic Microorganisms (MMM)View all 6 articles
Seasonal Variations in Microplastic Distribution on Macau's Windward and Leeward Beaches: Weak Spatial Autocorrelation
Provisionally accepted
- East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
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Beaches have been recognized as hotspots of microplastic (MP) pollution, posing an emerging threat to both environment and human health. Understanding the sources and key factors influencing MP distribution on beaches is crucial for developing effective management strategies. Here, MPs in two major tourism beaches with different orientations in Macau were seasonally investigated for the first time. The average abundance of MPs on Macau beaches was 36.56 ± 38.05 n/kg in spring and 628.63 ± 1462.31 n/kg in autumn, with foam accounting for over 85% of the total MPs in both seasons. The spatial autocorrelation of MP distribution across both seasons and beaches was weak, with no significant patterns of spatial clustering or dispersion observed.The abundance of MPs was significantly higher in autumn than in spring, mainly due to the large amount of polystyrene foam brought by the tides from the sea. It was also noticed that the abundance of MPs on windward beaches was significantly higher than that on leeward beaches, highlighting the important role of wind in dominating the MPs on coastal beaches in the studied region. The chemical composition of MPs, analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, revealed that most MPs originated from nearby areas. The findings will provide scientific insights for policy development aimed at mitigating plastic pollution in densely populated regions.
Keywords: Microplastics, Seasonal variation, beach, Spatial autocorrelation analysis, Macau
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zong, Jabeen, Zhu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lixin Zhu, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
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