Marine animal forests as useful indicators of entanglement by marine litter

Type Article
Date 2018-10
Language English
Author(s) Galgani FrancoisORCID1, Pham Christopher K.2, Claro Francoise3, Consoli Pierpaolo4, 5
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, LER PAC, Bastia, Corsica, France.
2 : Univ Azores, Dept Oceanog & Fisheries, IMAR & Okeanos, Horta, Portugal.
3 : Museum Natl Hist Nat, Paris, France.
4 : Inst Environm Protect & Res ISPRA, BIO CIT, Milazzo, Italy.
5 : Staz Zool Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy.
Source Marine Pollution Bulletin (0025-326X) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2018-10 , Vol. 135 , P. 735-738
DOI 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.08.004
WOS© Times Cited 56
Keyword(s) Marine animal forests, Marine litter, Coral, Epibenthic communities, Entanglement, Deep sea
Abstract

Entanglement of marine fauna is one of the principal impacts of marine litter, with an incidence that can vary strongly according to regions, the type and the quantity of marine litter. On the seafloor, areas dominated by sessile suspension feeders, such as tropical coral reefs or deep-sea coral and sponge aggregations, have been termed “animal forests” and have a strong potential to monitor the temporal and spatial trends of entanglement by marine litter, especially fishing gears. Several characteristics of these organisms represent advantages while avoiding constraints and bias. Biological constraints and logistical aspects, including tools, are discussed to better define a strategy for supporting long-term evaluation of accumulation and entanglement of marine litter.

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