Scientists have long warned that the world’s major rivers and estuaries are hotspots for plastic waste, as trash and microparticles wash down tributaries and congregate before entering oceans.
Scientists have long warned that the world’s major rivers and estuaries are hotspots for plastic waste, as trash and microparticles wash down tributaries and congregate before entering oceans. Now, new research has found that as this waste accumulates, aquatic river species like insects and snails are increasingly choosing to settle on plastic rather than natural features like rocks or fallen branches.
The findings, based on research in British rivers, are the latest evidence of how plastic waste is reshaping the world’s riverine ecosystems, both physically and behaviorally.
“Litter is persistent and widespread in rivers worldwide, and so it is likely that invertebrates are living on litter in many other rivers, especially those which have poor habitat quality,” Hazel Wilson, an environmental scientist at the University of Nottingham and lead author of the new research, published in the journal Freshwater Biology, told E&E News. “It shows just how poor the habitat quality of many urban rivers is, given that litter can support more diversity than other available habitats.”
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Image by Anastasia Gepp from Pixabay
