Science · 2018 · 845 citations · 22 references
Natural SciencesMarine BiologyMarine SciencesCoral Reef BiologyCoral Reef EcologyMarine EcologyCoral Reef ConservationCoral Reef DisturbanceMarine PollutionPlastic PollutionPlastic Waste ManagementReef-building Coral BiologyCoral Disease PathogenesisCoral DiseasesCoral Reef DegradationCoral Reef Disease EcologyCoral Reef Disturbance ResponsesCoral Reef ImpactsEntanglement By Plastic DebrisPlastic Waste Pollution
Coral reefs provide vital fisheries and coastal defense, yet they urgently need protection from the damaging effects of plastic waste. The study surveyed 159 coral reefs in the Asia‑Pacific region and found that plastic debris stresses corals through light deprivation, toxin release, and anoxia, facilitating pathogen invasion. Billions of plastic items were entangled in reefs, spikier coral species were more likely to snag plastic, and disease likelihood increased 20‑fold when corals were draped in plastic. Lamb et al., Science, this issue p.
Corals wrapped in plastic Coral reefs provide vital fisheries and coastal defense, and they urgently need protection from the damaging effects of plastic waste. Lamb et al. surveyed 159 coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region. Billions of plastic items were entangled in the reefs. The more spikey the coral species, the more likely they were to snag plastic. Disease likelihood increased 20-fold once a coral was draped in plastic. Plastic debris stresses coral through light deprivation, toxin release, and anoxia, giving pathogens a foothold for invasion. Science , this issue p. 460
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Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jenna Jambeck, Roland Geyer, Chris Wilcox et al. · Science · 2015 · 12.7K citations
Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences +13
Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals
Terry P. Hughes, James T. Kerry, Mariana Álvarez‐Noriega et al. · Nature · 2017 · 3.4K citations · Full text
Distance‐Based Tests for Homogeneity of Multivariate Dispersions
Marti J. Anderson · Biometrics · 2005 · 3.1K citations
Computing, Biostatistics, Ecology +13