Plastic Pollution and Small Juvenile Marine Turtles: A Potential Evolutionary Trap

Marine birds and plastic pollution

The intrinsic properties and widespread presence of plastic particles in the marine environment have profound effects on birds inhabiting the world's oceans. Industrial and user-plastics composed of polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, styrofoam, and polyvinyl chloride are the most prevalent forms of plastic marine pollution. Their dispersal and accumulation, in average densities of 1000 t...

Limb-use by foraging marine turtles, an evolutionary perspective

The use of limbs for foraging is documented in both marine and terrestrial tetrapods. These behaviors were once believed to be less likely in marine tetrapods due to the physical constraints of body plans adapted to locomotion in a fluid environment. Despite these obstacles, ten distinct types of limb-use while foraging have been previously reported in nine marine tetrapod families. Here, we ex...

Managing Marine Plastic Pollution: Policy Initiatives to Address Wayward Waste

Marine pollution. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean.

Plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, but the quantity of plastic entering the ocean from waste generated on land is unknown. By linking worldwide data on solid waste, population density, and economic status, we estimated the mass of land-based plastic waste entering the ocean. We calculate that 275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal ...

High evolutionary potential of marine zooplankton

Open ocean zooplankton often have been viewed as slowly evolving species that have limited capacity to respond adaptively to changing ocean conditions. Hence, attention has focused on the ecological responses of zooplankton to current global change, including range shifts and changing phenology. Here, we argue that zooplankton also are well poised for evolutionary responses to global change. We...