I Mansfield *1, J Sadler 1, SJ Reynolds 1, I Lynch 1 & T Matthews 1
1 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2SA; ILM851@student.bham.ac.uk
Plastic pollution is a growing global concern, as plastic production has increased significantly in recent years, from approximately 2 million metric tonnes in 1950 to more than 400 million metric tonnes in 2015 (Geyer et al.2017). Plastic is commonly categorised by size: ranging from megaplastics (> 1 m) to macroplastics (< 1 m), mesoplastics (< 2.5 cm), microplastics (< 5mm), and nanoplastics (< 100 nm) (Hartmann et al. 2019). To date, the majority of research on plastic pollution has focused on macroplastics in marine environments (Blettler et al. 2018). However, there may as much as23 times more plastic released into terrestrial environments every year, than into marine environments (Horton et al. 2017). This study will therefore investigate plastic pollution in terrestrial environments, with a focus on urban birds. A variety of laboratory techniques will be used to detect pieces of plastic in feathers, faeces and nest samples collected from blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in Birmingham, UK. This work will reinforce the use of biological samples that can be collected to measure plastic in ecosystems, without causing harm to individual animals. This research will also further our understanding of plastic pollution in terrestrial environments and identify potential pollution sources and transport routes of plastic. Both outcomes have positive implications for wildlife conservation and human health.
Fig 1. Different sample types collected from birds to measure plastic pollution in terrestrial environments.
References
Blettler, M. et al., 2018. Freshwater plastic pollution: Recognizing research biases and identifying knowledge gaps 143: 416-424 Geyer, R. et al., 2017. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made 3: e1700782.
Hartmann, N.B. et al., 2019. Are we speaking the same language? Recommendations for a definition and categorization framework for plastic debris 53: 1039-1047
Horton, A.A. et al., 2017. Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities 586: 127-141