About this Research Topic
Plastics are now ubiquitous in marine ecosystems. One of the main threats posed by plastic pollution to biodiversity is its ingestion. Since early 1970s the number of species reported to ingest plastics have skyrocketed to over 700 species from zooplankton to whales. Plastic ingestion is registered in great variety of impacts from physical impairment, chemical contamination, behavioral alteration to direct death. However, despite the rapid emergence of this anthropogenic threat and the associated increase in research interest on this topic, much remains unknown, specifically on the causes and consequences of plastic debris ingestion.
Despite five decades of studies on this topic, most of the available literature has focused on providing examples on the species that ingest plastics, including detailed explanations of their type, color, and texture. Additionally, these studies are disproportionately concentrated on sea birds, sea turtles and marine mammals. Despite the progress made over the last decade, important knowledge gaps exist, particularly in relation to predict impacts to wildlife and to design effective conservation and management actions. Our lack of understanding starts in the pre-ingestion process, where we still need to clearly identify ecological traits related to plastic ingestion and go all the way to the appropriate measurements of impacts on all levels of biological organization. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to gather contributions to create a more comprehensive understanding of plastic ingestion by broadening the taxonomic scope and filling gaps on the pre-ingestion and post-ingestion processes.
We welcome studies focusing on plastic ingestion that will help to better understand this global threat, particularly those covering the following aspects:
• Impacts on different levels of biological organization, especially those at the individual, community and ecological level;
• Ecological traits linked to plastic ingestion;
• Fitness consequences of plastic ingestion;
• Transport and release of chemicals from plastic to wildlife;
• Trophic transfer of plastic;
• Reports on understudied taxonomic groups and underrepresented areas;
• Impacts on relevant socioeconomical species;
• The effects of polymer type, particle shape and size on wildlife;
• Methodological and theoretical contributions.
Despite five decades of studies on this topic, most of the available literature has focused on providing examples on the species that ingest plastics, including detailed explanations of their type, color, and texture. Additionally, these studies are disproportionately concentrated on sea birds, sea turtles and marine mammals. Despite the progress made over the last decade, important knowledge gaps exist, particularly in relation to predict impacts to wildlife and to design effective conservation and management actions. Our lack of understanding starts in the pre-ingestion process, where we still need to clearly identify ecological traits related to plastic ingestion and go all the way to the appropriate measurements of impacts on all levels of biological organization. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to gather contributions to create a more comprehensive understanding of plastic ingestion by broadening the taxonomic scope and filling gaps on the pre-ingestion and post-ingestion processes.
We welcome studies focusing on plastic ingestion that will help to better understand this global threat, particularly those covering the following aspects:
• Impacts on different levels of biological organization, especially those at the individual, community and ecological level;
• Ecological traits linked to plastic ingestion;
• Fitness consequences of plastic ingestion;
• Transport and release of chemicals from plastic to wildlife;
• Trophic transfer of plastic;
• Reports on understudied taxonomic groups and underrepresented areas;
• Impacts on relevant socioeconomical species;
• The effects of polymer type, particle shape and size on wildlife;
• Methodological and theoretical contributions.
Keywords: Plastic pollution, ecotoxicology, conservation biology, anthropogenic change, evolutionary trap
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
