Neustonic Plastic Along the Eastern Seaboard: Evaluating Potential Ecologic Impacts using Zooplankton to Plastic Ratios, and Identification of Regional Source Areas Using OpenDrift Modelling

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dc.contributorMarkley, Michelle
dc.contributorAndras, Jason
dc.contributorSchell, Jeffrey
dc.contributorBennett, Ryan
dc.contributor.advisorWerner, Alan
dc.contributor.authorManlick, Lucinda Eve
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-20T17:08:32Z
dc.date.available2022-05-20T17:08:32Z
dc.date.gradyear2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-05-20
dc.descriptionData tables are included as separate CSV and Excel file.en_US
dc.description.abstractPlastic debris has become an issue of ecologic concern, as studies have found that plastic, which has been accumulating in the marine environment since it became commercialized after World War II, has negative environmental effects and a wide range of biologic impacts when ingested. Determining how plastic debris enters the food web is the first step in evaluating the potential for plastic to magnify throughout the food web, eventually effecting humans. This study addresses this issue by using methodology established by Moore et al. (2001; 2002) and Collignon et al. (2012) to determine the ratios (by count and by weight) of neustonic plastic to zooplankton along the Eastern Seaboard of the US, in the Atlantic Ocean. Samples analyzed in this study were collected by SEA Education Association class C-297 Marine biodiversity and Conservation along a cruise track from St. Petersburg, FL to Woods Hole, MA, with varying distances from shore, between April 16 and May 20, 2021. Neuston tows were performed using a 333 micrometer neuston tow net, and were processed by hand. To determine the origin of plastic recovered at sea, this study utilizes a novel approach to the identification of plastic debris source regions by using a Python-coded program (OpenDrift) to hindcast the neuston tow samples analyzed in this study to identify likely geographic locations, using oceanographic and atmospheric conditions, and Lagrangian particle trajectory modelling. This work sets the stage for future conservation work in marine plastics, to mitigate the exposure of marine organisms and the food web to the negative effects of plastics and their additives.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipGeologyen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/6342
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedpublicen_US
dc.subjectplasticen_US
dc.subjectplastic debrisen_US
dc.subjectoceanographyen_US
dc.subjectmarine biologyen_US
dc.subjectOpenDriften_US
dc.subjectzooplanktonen_US
dc.subjectSEA Education Associationen_US
dc.subjectAtlantic Oceanen_US
dc.subjectEastern Seaboarden_US
dc.subjectgeologyen_US
dc.subjectbiologyen_US
dc.subjecthindcastingen_US
dc.subjecthindcast modellingen_US
dc.subjectfood weben_US
dc.subjectbiomagnificationen_US
dc.subjectbioaccumulationen_US
dc.subjectphysical oceanographyen_US
dc.subjectbiological oceanographyen_US
dc.subjectneustonen_US
dc.subjectneustonic plasticen_US
dc.titleNeustonic Plastic Along the Eastern Seaboard: Evaluating Potential Ecologic Impacts using Zooplankton to Plastic Ratios, and Identification of Regional Source Areas Using OpenDrift Modellingen_US
dc.typeThesis
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke College

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