Fong J, Lee SHR, Sun Y, Lim CL, Tan YAJ, Tan YH, Neo ML. Litter traps: A comparison of four marine habitats as sinks for anthropogenic marine macro-litter in Singapore.
Mar Pollut Bull 2023;
196:115645. [PMID:
37862845 DOI:
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115645]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023]
Abstract
The potential for marine litter being trapped in biodiverse marine habitats such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs is poorly understood. This study presents the first comprehensive investigation on the status of macro-litter across four marine habitats in Singapore during the two monsoonal seasons. Overall, litter density did not vary considerably between the southwest and the northeast monsoon. The litter density in terms of count was generally lower in seagrass meadows and coral reefs compared to mangroves and beaches. Plastic was the major type of litter found across most habitat types. Notably, many fishing-related items were found on coral reefs, while drinking straws were abundant at the mangrove strandlines during the southwest monsoon. Foam fragments and cigarette butts were common at the beach strandlines. These results suggest that mangroves among other habitats examined here should be prioritised for clean-up efforts in order to restore these critical coastal habitats.
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