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Corresponding author: Katarína Fogašová ( katarina.fogasova@smail.unipo.sk ) Academic editor: Josef Settele
© 2022 Katarína Fogašová, Peter Manko, Jozef Oboňa.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Fogašová K, Manko P, Oboňa J (2022) The first evidence of microplastics in plant-formed fresh-water micro-ecosystems: Dipsacus teasel phytotelmata in Slovakia contaminated with MPs. BioRisk 18: 133-143. https://doi.org/10.3897/biorisk.18.87433
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Tiny pieces of plastic, or microplastics, are one of the emerging pollutants in a wide range of different ecosystems. However, they have, thus far, not been confirmed from phytotelmata – specific small water-filled cavities provided by terrestrial plants. The authors confirmed microplastics (141 μm – 2.4 mm long fibres of several colour and blue and orange fragments with diameters of 9–81 μm) in quantities from 101 to 409 per ml in Dipsacus telmata from two different periods. The phytotelmata, therefore, appear to be possible indicators of current and future microplastic pollution of the environment. However, further research is needed to obtain accurate information and verify the methodology for possible assessment of the local environmental burden of microplastics.
plants, plastics, transport, telmata
Microplastics (MPs) are becoming an important problem (e.g.
To the authors’ knowledge, the presence of MPs has not yet been confirmed in phytotelmata, a wide range of generally non-permanent aquatic microecosystems in plants (e.g.
The main purpose of the sampling was to describe the seasonal dynamics of organisms living in teasel telmata. The detection of MPs in these samples was accidental and unexpected. The objective of this paper is to describe the first documented evidence of MPs in phytotelmata.
Water samples with sediment from phytotelmata on teasel Dipsacus came from two areas of eastern Slovakia (see Map. 1) near the villages of Demjata (49°6'58.578231"N, 21°18'47.3838982"E, Fig.
The samples were obtained from five plants at each of two sampling localities at the end of each of five 14-day long collection periods from all levels of leaf axils at examined plants. The collection was carried out using standard methods (see
Date | Plant number | Locality | total levels on the plant | level 1 | level 2 | level 3 | level 4 | level 5 | level 6 | level 7 | level 8 | level 9 | level 10 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | sample number | volume (ml) | ||||
6/14/ 2021 | 1 | Demjata | 6 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 38 | 2 | 29 | 3 | 17 | empty | |||||||||||
2 | Demjata | 6 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 21 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
3 | Demjata | 6 | damaged | 1 | 70 | 2 | 37 | 3 | 13 | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
4 | Demjata | 7 | damaged | 1 | 37 | 2 | 85 | 3 | 17 | empty | empty | empty | |||||||||||
5 | Demjata | 7 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 10 | empty | empty | |||||||||
1 | Kapušany | 6 | 1 | 12.5 | 2 | 44 | 3 | 42 | 4 | 49 | empty | empty | |||||||||||
2 | Kapušany | 7 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 26 | 4 | 6 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||
3 | Kapušany | 6 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 31 | 3 | 10 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
4 | Kapušany | 6 | damaged | 1 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 7.5 | 4 | 3 | empty | |||||||||||
5 | Kapušany | 7 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 35 | 2 | 4 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
6/28/ 2021 | 1 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 35 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 3 | empty | ||||||||
2 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | 1 | 20 | 2 | 73 | 3 | 61 | 4 | 49 | 5 | 27 | empty | empty | empty | |||||||
3 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 6 | 2 | 76 | 3 | 61 | 4 | 47 | 5 | 11 | empty | empty | |||||||
4 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 10 | 2 | 106 | 3 | 92 | 4 | 43 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||
5 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | 1 | 5 | damaged | 2 | 41 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 12 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||
1 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | 1 | 5 | 2 | 51 | 3 | 41 | 4 | 60 | 5 | 45 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 15 | ||||||
2 | Kapušany | 9 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 42 | 2 | 37 | 3 | 26 | 4 | 25 | 5 | 5 | empty | |||||||
3 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 29 | 2 | 42 | 3 | 80 | 4 | 34 | 5 | 29 | 6 | 6 | |||||||
4 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 51 | 2 | 92 | 3 | 45 | 4 | 45 | 5 | 36 | 6 | 17 | |||||||
5 | Kapušany | 9 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 5 | 2 | 85 | 3 | 70 | 4 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 6 | 8 | ||||||
7/12/ 2021 | 1 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 50 | 2 | 36 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 10 | empty | damaged | damaged | |||||||
2 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 29 | 5 | 12 | damaged | damaged | |||||||
3 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 3* | 11* | empty | empty | damaged | ||||||||||
4 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 20 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 5 | damaged | damaged | |||||||||
5 | Demjata | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 20 | 2 | 60 | 3 | 25 | 4 | 14 | 5* | 6* | empty | damaged | |||||||
1 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | 1* | 9* | 2 | 76 | 3 | 95 | 4 | 83 | damaged | 5 | 12 | 6 | 3 | |||||||
2 | Kapušany | 7 | damaged | 1 | 12 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 7 | empty | empty | empty | |||||||||||
3 | Kapušany | 7 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 7 | 2 | 5 | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
4 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 32 | 2 | 47 | 3 | 24 | damaged | empty | damaged | ||||||||||
5 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | 1 | 2 | 2 | 18 | damaged | 3 | 41 | 4 | 49 | 5 | 15 | empty | ||||||||
7/26/ 2021 | 1 | Demjata | 7 | damaged | damaged | 1* | 8* | empty | empty | damaged | damaged | ||||||||||||
2 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | empty | 1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | empty | empty | empty | damaged | |||||||||||
3 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | empty | 1 | 10 | empty | empty | empty | damaged | ||||||||||||
4 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 12 | 2 | 5 | damaged | damaged | damaged | |||||||||||
5 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 11 | empty | empty | empty | damaged | damaged | ||||||||||||
1 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 10 | damaged | 2* | 40* | empty | 3 | 5 | empty | ||||||||||
2 | Kapušany | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 6 | 2 | 41 | 3 | 110 | 4 | 58 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 6 | damaged | ||||||
3 | Kapušany | 10 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 15 | 2 | 12 | empty | empty | damaged | damaged | |||||||||
4 | Kapušany | 9 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 5 | 2 | 55 | 3 | 55 | 4* | 75* | 5 | 11 | empty | damaged | |||||||
5 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 90 | empty | 2 | 9 | empty | |||||||||||
8/9/ 2021 | 1 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||
2 | Demjata | 7 | damaged | damaged | 1 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | empty | empty | |||||||||||
3 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 3 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
4 | Demjata | 7 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
5 | Demjata | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 5 | empty | empty | empty | ||||||||||||
1 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 15 | empty | ||||||||||||
2 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 47 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 2 | empty | |||||||||
3 | Kapušany | 8 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 24 | 2 | 45 | 3 | 12 | empty | ||||||||||
4 | Kapušany | 7 | damaged | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 10 | empty | empty | |||||||||||||
5 | Kapušany | 7 | damaged | damaged | damaged | 1 | 36 | empty | empty | empty |
In the laboratory, the samples were examined using a microscope method after transfer to a sterile Petri dish. After first MP evidence, the examination was conducted following the microscopic method (see
Overall, MPs were detected in only in 6 of 171 examined samples (incidence 3.5%). MPs consisted, in particular, of blue, black, red and white 141 μm to 2.4 mm long fibres and blue and orange fragments with diameters of 9 to 81 μm. There were 101 to 409 MPs in each positive sample (Table
Date | Plant number | Locality | Total levels on the plant | Level | Sample number | Volume (ml) | Fibers | Fragments | Average amount of MPs per 1 ml | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Number (3 ml) | Colour | Min. length (mm) | Max. length (mm) | Total Number (3 ml) | Colour | Min. size (mm) | Max. size (mm) | Fibres | Fragments | Total | |||||||||||
Blue | Black | Red | White | Blue | Orange | ||||||||||||||||
7/12/2021 | 3 | Demjata | 8 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.2051 | 1.5790 | 98 | 58 | 40 | 0.0107 | 0.0718 | 2.7 | 32.7 | 275.19 |
7/12/2021 | 5 | Demjata | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1558 | 1.3092 | 159 | 45 | 114 | 0.0096 | 0.0695 | 1.3 | 53.0 | 408.87 |
7/12/2021 | 1 | Kapušany | 8 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.1955 | 2.1730 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0.0122 | 0.0420 | 4.0 | 7.3 | 101.75 |
7/26/2021 | 1 | Demjata | 7 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1414 | 0.8832 | 142 | 28 | 114 | 0.0096 | 0.0528 | 1.0 | 47.3 | 358.42 |
7/26/2021 | 1 | Kapušany | 8 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.1663 | 2.3937 | 59 | 33 | 26 | 0.0115 | 0.0808 | 4.3 | 19.7 | 225.65 |
7/26/2021 | 4 | Kapušany | 9 | 6 | 4 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 18 | 38 | 0.0088 | 0.0551 | 0.0 | 18.7 | 224.73 |
These phytotelmata are very small and have a short lifespan (e.g.
The second possible pathway of contamination is zoonotic transport (active or passive) through snails (Fig.
Based on these results, aims in our future research will be: (1) to find out whether the pathway of pollution (i.e. wind transport, active zoonotic transport, passive zoonotic transport) would influence the utility of phytotelmata as indicators of microplastic pollution and (2) to test the hypothesis that the amount of microplastics in phytotelmata reflects their amount in the environment (i.e. more MPs in the environment mean more MPs in phytotelmata). Teasel phytotelmata are a relatively common, but overlooked aquatic microcosms (
MPs have become one of the emerging pollutants in a wide range of different ecosystems (e.g.
We thank the editor and all anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive comments on the first versions of the manuscript. We also thank the kind and helpful Nathalie Yonow for the thorough proofreading of the second version of the manuscript, her important questions, comments and suggestions. This work was supported by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency, contract No. VEGA-1/0012/20 and by the Grant Agency of University Prešov in Prešov under contract No. GaPU 6/2021.