The first evidence of microplastics in plant-formed fresh-water micro-ecosystems: Dipsacus teasel phytotelmata in Slovakia contaminated with MPs

By

Fogašová, Katarína
Manko, Peter
Obona, Jozef

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

BioRisk : biodiversity & ecosystem risk assessment

Volume

18

Pages

133--143

Subjects

Plants , Plastics , telmata , transport

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biorisk.18.87433

 

Abstract

Tiny pieces of plastic, or microplastics, are one of the emerging pollutants in a wide range of different ecosystems. However, they have, thus far, not been confirmed from phytotelmata – specific small water-filled cavities provided by terrestrial plants. The authors confirmed microplastics (141 μm – 2.4 mm long fibres of several colour and blue and orange fragments with diameters of 9–81 μm) in quantities from 101 to 409 per ml in Dipsacus telmata from two different periods. The phytotelmata, therefore, appear to be possible indicators of current and future microplastic pollution of the environment. However, further research is needed to obtain accurate information and verify the methodology for possible assessment of the local environmental burden of microplastics.