title: Plastisphere in action: evidence for an interaction between expanded polystyrene and dunal plants.
abstract: Among the many threats that can be recorded on sandy beaches, plastic litter represents a serious problem for these complex and endangered ecosystems. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is increasingly abundant as a form of plastic litter in natural environments, particularly along shores and waterways. Nevertheless, despite the great number of scientific articles concerning the impact of litter on animal species, there are still no research focusing on the interaction between this type of beach litter and other biodiversity components. In this work, we reported the first evidence of interactions between EPS and living plants along a sandy beach of Tyrrhenian central Italy. We sampled 540 EPS items, mainly deriving from fishery activities (>75%). We obtained evidence for an interaction between EPS and plants: about 5% of items resulted perforated or have roots of three species (Phragmites australis, Spartina versicolor, Anthemis maritima). Apparently, we did not observed a relationship between plants and EPS items size. More research is needed to assess if the plant assemblage growing on EPS is random or if peculiar substrate exerts some sort of selection on the plant community.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli studi Roma Tre, viale Marconi, 446, 00146, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poeta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Seconda Università di Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.affiliation: ENEA, via Anguillarese, 301, Cesano, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Loris
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pietrelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli studi Roma Tre, viale Marconi, 446, 00146, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alicia T R
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.affiliation: 'Torre Flavia' LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale, "Protected areas" Service, via Tiburtina, 691, 00159, Rome, Italy. c.battisti@cittametropolitanaroma.gov.it.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Battisti
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D006109:Poaceae; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D011137:Polystyrenes
keywords: Anthemis maritima; Beach litter; Central Italy; Coastal dune vegetation; Phragmites australis; Spartina versicolor