title: The Danube so colourful: a potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe's second largest river.
abstract: Previous studies on plastic pollution of aquatic ecosystems focused on the world's oceans. Large rivers as major pathways for land-based plastic litter, has received less attention so far. Here we report on plastic quantities in the Austrian Danube. A two year survey (2010, 2012) using stationary driftnets detected mean plastic abundance (n = 17,349; mean ± S.D: 316.8 ± 4664.6 items per 1000 m(-3)) and mass (4.8 ± 24.2 g per 1000 m(-3)) in the river to be higher than those of drifting larval fish (n = 24,049; 275.3 ± 745.0 individuals. 1000 m(-3) and 3.2 ± 8.6 g 1000 m(-3)). Industrial raw material (pellets, flakes and spherules) accounted for substantial parts (79.4%) of the plastic debris. The plastic input via the Danube into the Black Sea was estimated to 4.2 t per day.
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: aaron.lechner@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lechner
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: hubert.keckeis@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keckeis
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: franz.loisl@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lumesberger-Loisl
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: a0707530@unet.univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zens
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: krusch7@gmx.at.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krusch
authors.affiliation: Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Methods in River Monitoring, Modelling and Engineering, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: michael.tritthart@boku.ac.at.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tritthart
authors.affiliation: Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Methods in River Monitoring, Modelling and Engineering, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: martin.glas@boku.ac.at.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glas
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Oceanography, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: elisabeth.schludermann@tuwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schludermann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001317:Austria; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Black Sea; Drift; Freshwater pollution; Industrial plastics; Plastic debris