title: Spatial and temporal variation of macro-, meso- and microplastic abundance on a remote coral island of the Maldives, Indian Ocean.
abstract: Plastic debris is ubiquitous in the marine environment and the world's shores represent a major sink. However, knowledge about plastic abundance in remote areas is scarce. Therefore, plastic abundance was investigated on a small island of the Maldives. Plastic debris (>1mm) was sampled once in natural long-term accumulation zones at the north shore and at the high tide drift line of the south shore on seven consecutive days to quantify daily plastic accumulation. Reliable identification of plastic debris was ensured by FTIR spectroscopy. Despite the remoteness of the island a considerable amount of plastic debris was present. At both sites a high variability in plastic abundance on a spatial and temporal scale was observed, which may be best explained by environmental factors. In addition, our results show that snapshot sampling may deliver biased results and indicate that future monitoring programs should consider spatial and temporal variation of plastic deposition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Hannes K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Imhof
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sigl
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feyl
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giesemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klink
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leupolz
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin G J
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Löder
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Lena A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Löschel
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Missun
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muszynski
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja F R M
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ramsperger
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schrank
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Speck
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steibl
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Trotter
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany. Electronic address: christian.laforsch@uni-bayreuth.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laforsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019156:Indian Ocean; D007195:Indian Ocean Islands; D010969:Plastics; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014866:Waste Products; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Indian Ocean; Island; Microplastic; Plastic debris; Remote