Publication Abstract

Until recently, bioinvasions were limited to established and well-recognised pathways such as shipping or aquaculture. Today, we are seeing a rise in a new invasion mechanism: instances of groups of marine organisms being moved around the world’s oceans via discarded plastic waste. Separately, marine litter and non-indigenous species are regulated under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, but the introduction and transfer of marine organisms via plastic litter is where these issues converge. The abundance of plastic litter in the seas presents a complex problem with many sizes, configurations and textures available for colonisation, each with their own effect on species dispersal. The full scope of this interaction is yet to be fully understood. This presents a difficult challenge for monitoring and management of species transfer. We discuss the interactions of biota and litter from biofilm to full macrofaunal communities, highlight those groups most likely to foul litter and discuss the implications of their enhanced dispersal. We review efforts to understand the mechanism by examining studies of beached, drifting and seafloor litter and discuss efforts to monitor it. To enhance monitoring accuracy, we propose a greater integration of biotic data from fouling communities to inform the identification of litter sources.

Peter Barry*, Amelia Curd, Gabin Droual, Morgan le Moigne