Contamination by microplastics in oysters shows a widespread but patchy occurrence in a subtropical estuarine system.

Microplastics (MPs) have been widely documented in marine biota, with a notable presence in bivalve species. This study examines microplastic (MP) contamination in oysters across a subtropical estuarine system, revealing widespread and highly variable levels of contamination. Our results indicate a general trend of higher contamination in areas with greater anthropogenic impact, and unexpectedly high values in remote Marine Protected Areas, suggesting alternative sources of MPs. We observed a 94.31 % frequency of occurrence and an average contamination level of 8.16 ± 6.39 MP.ind-1, 1.06 ± 1.28 MP.g-1ww, and 7.54 ± 6.55 MP.g-1dw. Transparent fibers, predominantly composed of polyester and polyethylene from likely textile origins, were the most common. The findings underscore the significance of MP pollution in marine environments, even in protected zones. For enhanced spatial assessment and consistent data comparison, we recommend that future studies include MP quantities in terms of dry weight (MP.g-1dw) and biometric data such as size and weight.

Stakeholder Analysis as a strategic tool in framing collaborative governance arenas for marine litter monitoring.

Monitoring and assessment of marine litter requires multi-stakeholder involvement at national and subnational levels. Collaborative governance approaches are important, but often fail without adequate effort towards identifying and engaging stakeholders with appropriate profiles for the issue at stake. Stakeholder Analysis (SA) is increasingly used to ensure efficient governance arrangements. Our hypothesis is that SA contributes to collaborative governance processes for marine litter policies. We explored a pioneer participatory process in Brazil, where SA was applied to identify, categorize, and prioritize stakeholders, and analyze their power and interest, for the Strategic Plan for Monitoring and Assessing Marine Litter in the state of São Paulo. A top-down/bottom-up approach revealed that snowball sampling complemented the stakeholder assemblage identified by the consultation of experts. Prioritization of data-related stakeholders streamlined the participatory process. The interest-power matrix evaluated stakeholders' influences, guiding specific engagement strategies. We highlight the significance of SA in collaborative governance and mobilizing key stakeholders for effective marine litter monitoring initiatives, contributing to the global agenda to combat marine pollution.

The high biodiversity of benthic organisms in a coastal ecosystem revealed by an integrative approach / A alta biodiversidade de organismos bentônicos em um ecossistema costeiro revelada por uma abordagem integrativa

Abstract Increasing habitat modification and species loss demand consistent efforts to describe and understand biodiversity patterns. The BIOTA/FAPESP Program was created in this context and it has been a successful initiative to promote studies on biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. The BIOTA/Araçá is an interdisciplinary project that provided a detailed evaluation of the biodiversity of Araçá Bay, a coastal seascape located on the North coast of the state of São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. The bay encompasses multiple habitats, such as beaches, mangroves, rocky shores, and a tidal flat, and provides important ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the bay is the subject of complex social-environmental conflicts that oppose economic, social, and environmental demands (i.e., the expansion of neighboring harbor activities vs. small-scale artisanal fisheries and protection of biodiversity). The present study presents a survey of the benthic species occurring in the different habitats of Araçá Bay, including data obtained during the BIOTA/Araçá project and previous assessments of the area. The benthic species play an important role in marine environments and studying the diversity of these organisms that live associated with the bottom is indispensable for comprehending the environment's functioning. The macrofauna, meiofauna, and microorganisms associated with soft and hard bottom were listed, and additional information, such as the habitat and geographical distribution, were provided for each species. The checklist includes 826 species, almost 70% recorded during the BIOTA/Araçá project. The most speciose taxa were the annelids (225 spp.), mollusks (194 spp.), and crustaceans (177 spp.). Seven benthic species are endemic to Araçá Bay, 14 are considered threatened, and seven are economically exploited. Furthermore, the bay is the type locality of many taxa, and 11 new benthic species were described based on specimens sampled during the project. This project shows the importance of Araçá Bay as a unique biologically rich environment and highlights the need for conservation efforts in light of the current threats.

Resumo O aumento da modificação dos habitats e da perda de espécies demanda esforços consistentes para descrever e compreender os padrões de biodiversidade. O programa BIOTA/FAPESP foi criado nesse contexto e é uma iniciativa de sucesso para promover estudos em biodiversidade e conservação no Brasil. O BIOTA/Araçá é um projeto interdisciplinar que promoveu uma avaliação detalhada da biodiversidade da Baía do Araçá, um ecossistema costeiro localizado ao Norte do estado de São Paulo, Sudeste do Brasil. A baía engloba múltiplos habitats, tais como praias, manguezais, costões rochosos, e uma planície de maré, e também fornece importantes serviços ecossistêmicos. Infelizmente, a baía está sujeita à conflitos sócio-ambientais complexos que contrastam demandas econômicas, sociais e ambientais (i.e. a expansão das atividades do porto vizinho vs. a pesca artesanal de pequena escala e a proteção da biodiversidade). O presente estudo apresenta um levantamento das espécies bentônicas que ocorrem nos diferentes habitats da Baía do Araçá, incluindo dados obtidos durante o projeto BIOTA/Araçá e de investigações realizadas anteriormente na área. As espécies bentônicas desempenham um papel importante no ambiente marinho, e estudar a diversidade desses organismos que vivem associados ao fundo é indispensável para compreender o funcionamento do meio ambiente. A macrofauna, meiofauna, e microorganismos associados aos fundos consolidado e inconsolidado foram listados, e informações adicionais foram fornecidas para cada espécie, tais como a distribuição geográfica e nos habitats. O checklist inclui 826 espécies, quase 70% registradas durante o projeto BIOTA/Araçá. Os taxa mais especiosos foram os anelídeos (225 spp.), moluscos (194 spp.), e crustáceos (177 spp.). Entre as espécies bentônicas listadas, sete são endêmicas da Baía do Araçá, 14 são consideradas ameaçadas de extinção, e sete são exploradas economicamente. A baía é a localidade tipo de vários taxa, e 11 novas espécies bentônicas foram descritas com base em espécimes amostrados durante o projeto. Este projeto mostra a importância da Baía do Araçá como um ambiente de riqueza biológica única e demonstra a necessidade de esforços para a sua conservação considerando as atuais ameaças.

Beach morphodynamics modulate the effects of multidirectional habitat loss on population density and size structure of the Atlantic ghost crab Ocypode quadrata.

Sandy beaches are land-sea transitional habitats experiencing 'multidirectional' habitat loss due to coastal developments (e.g. armoring and/or conversion of natural vegetation into manmade structures) and beach erosion. This 'coastal squeeze' is a chronic and progressive process; however, its impacts on beach biodiversity across morphodynamic gradients are still to be unveiled. We hypothesized that the effects of multidirectional habitat loss would be more severe on dissipative than on reflective beaches, due to the higher elevation, amount of built up sediment, and width of the backshore compartment of the latter. We, thus, examined the effects of coastal developments and erosion on density and size structure of the Atlantic ghost crab, Ocypode quadrata, on beaches with different morphodynamics. Given that the living area of ghost crabs spans all cross-shore compartments and the whole dissipative-to-reflective morphodynamic gradient, they are appropriate organisms to access the synergic effects of coastal developments and beach erosion under different morphodynamic regimes. On dissipative beaches, density and mean crab size increased with moderate erosion, attributed to the effects of space loss, which might increase territorial competition, favoring the remaining larger individuals. However, mean size and density decreased with high erosion given the more intense reduction in the abundance of large-sized crabs living in up-shore habitats. Mean crab size also decreased in the presence of coastal development while crab density did not vary with loss of backshore habitats occupied by larger individuals. On reflective beaches, both density and crab size decreased with coastal development; the crab size decrease recorded under moderate erosion was more evident in the presence of coastal development. Under high erosion, mean crab sizes declined, reflecting those under low erosion conditions. Overall, populations on reflective beaches appeared more resilient to extreme erosion. Notwithstanding, coastal developments affected population structure across all beach types, and especially in areas subjected to high erosion, exhibiting a synergic effect. We predict that, in combination, these stressors may lead to functionally extinct populations where conditions necessary for individuals to reach sexual maturity (i.e. occurrence of only small-sized and immature individuals) are not met. Thus, the connectivity between water, beach compartments and dunes/coastal plain, on both local and regional scales, may be essential to maintain viable and connected populations of ghost crabs. Further, our results strongly suggest that both size and density (complemented with crab abundance) must be considered equally important and in combination in future efforts to assess anthropogenic stressors on ghost crab populations and when guiding conservation strategies and policies to prevent their local and regional extinctions.

Advancing plastic pollution hotspotting at the subnational level: Brazil as a case study in the Global South.

Identifying sources is crucial for proposing effective actions to combat marine litter pollution. Here, we used an innovative approach to identify hotspots of mismanaged plastic waste (MPW) within Brazil and subsequent leakage to the ocean, based on population density, socio-economic conditions, municipal solid waste management and environmental parameters. We estimated plastic waste generation and MPW for each of the 5570 Brazilian municipalities, which totaled 3.44 million metric tons per year. Then, we estimated the probability of litter mobilization and transport (P) and the relative risk of leakage to the ocean (MPW × P). The Guanabara Bay and La Plata River comprised the main oceanic entry hotspots of litter produced in Brazil. The use of national databases allowed us to increase spatial and temporal granularity, offering a detailed baseline for the application of prevention and mitigation actions. However, overcoming data limitations is still a challenge in Brazil as in other Global South countries.

Effects of natural and anthropogenic storm-stranded debris in upper-beach arthropods: Is wrack a prey hotspot for birds?

Storm-stranded debris (i.e., wrack) are important components for the functioning of beach ecosystems. With the current increase in extreme storm events, beached wrack is expected to change globally. However, little is known about how different types of wrack can affect beach biodiversity. Here, we hypothesized that natural debris (algae and land-plant debris) would optimize the short-term aggregation of benthic arthropods on the beach ecosystem, while anthropogenic debris (plastics) would not perform this function. We also expected that short-term aggregations of arthropods in the natural debris would create a transient prey hotspot (i.e., points of high prey concentration) for birds on the beach. Thus, we performed manipulative field experiments with debris addition and predator exclusion by cage on a short temporal scale (maximum 20 days). We found that natural debris aggregated higher community abundances than anthropic debris and treatments without debris, while community richness was not affected by wrack. No differences were noted when comparing the community aggregation on plastic debris and treatments without debris. The coleopterans were the group responsible for this aggregation, mainly represented by Phaleria testacea, which aggregated on natural debris with abundances five times greater than those on plastic debris. Nevertheless, we did not find any evidence of increased predation by birds on the coleopterans aggregated in the natural debris. We conclude that arthropod aggregation in the wrack is a phenomenon primarily associated with natural debris, not occurring in plastic debris, although the role of this faunal aggregation as a prey hotspot for birds was not evident in the short term. These results showed that the wrack type matters in terms of consequences for beach arthropods, creating concerns against beach cleaning methods that are adopted indiscriminately, also signaling the need for long-term studies to proceed with investigating the wrack functions for top predators on sandy beaches.

The efficacy of benthic indices to evaluate the ecological quality and urbanization effects on sandy beach ecosystems.

Benthic indices have been widely used across different coastal ecosystems to assess ecological quality and detect anthropic impacts, but very few studies investigated their effectiveness on sandy beaches. Here, we evaluated and compared the efficacy of 12 assemblage-based benthic indices in assessing ecological quality in beaches, across a gradient of anthropic pressure and natural variability in 90 sandy beach sites. Overall, when sandy beaches were considered collectively, benthic indices had a poor performance in identifying decreases in ecological quality with increasing urbanization. However, when each morphodynamic type was evaluated separately, a few indices, especially those that were calibrated by reference conditions (i.e., M-AMBI, BAT, and BEQI-2), showed promising results for dissipative, and to a lesser extent, intermediate beaches. For reflective beaches, indices performed poorly, likely a reflection of the stronger natural disturbance these beaches are subjected to. Among functional indices, richness was found to be lower in urbanized beaches, but only in dissipative ones. Overall, our results show that benthic indices have the potential to be incorporated in sandy beach management and monitoring programs, especially for dissipative and intermediate beaches. For reflective beaches, given the early stage of studies with benthic indices in beaches, more research is needed to corroborate the observed patterns.

How far are we from robust estimates of plastic litter leakage to the environment?

Litter pollution is a global concern, and identifying sources and pathways is crucial for proposing preventative actions. Existing models of plastic litter leakage to the environment have provided worldwide estimates at a country-based level, but only a few initiatives address subnational scales. Adding relevant parameters and improving models is needed to reduce the limitations of global estimates. However, availability of information, which varies among countries and is critical in the Global South, may preclude such improvements. To understand the potentialities and limitations of subnational estimates of plastic litter leakage to the environment, we reviewed the parameters used in the literature and addressed data usability, considering Brazil as a case study. We gathered data on parameters identified for all 5570 Brazilian municipalities and evaluated their usability considering reliability and temporal and geographic granularity. We identified 51 parameters that are either currently used in models or could improve estimates, including parameters regarding territory, population density, socioeconomic condition, and solid waste generation, composition, collection, and final destination, selective waste collection, recycling, and hydrology. Only 29.4% of parameters were linked to data sources with good or very good usability, while most of them presented average usability (45.1%) and 7.8% were not linked to any data source. This panorama of low data usability reveals uncertainties and explicit difficulties of estimating plastic litter leakage to the environment, including mobilization from the terrestrial environment to the ocean. The Brazilian scenario reflects current data availability conditions and the difficulties of countries in the Global South to robustly understand plastic litter leakage and face land-based sources of marine litter.

Does coastal armoring affect biodiversity and its functional composition on sandy beaches?

Sandy beaches are increasingly squeezed due to the construction of backshore man-made structures (i.e., coastal armoring) and current global changes. Coastal armoring impacts beach sediment dynamics, inducing erosion and habitat loss, threatening biodiversity processes and the functional roles of sandy beach organisms. Here, we examine how the abundance, taxonomic richness, and functional richness of sandy beach fauna are affected by coastal armoring. We compared macrobenthic infaunal communities on five armored beaches (with backshore urban structures) and five vegetated beaches (not-armored). We also evaluated the abundance and biomass of upper-beach arthropods using pitfall traps, comparing armored and vegetated segments within the beaches. Infaunal richness and abundance were lower at armored beaches, mainly in the subtidal zones, because of a reduction in polychaete and molluscan abundance. There was no difference in overall functional richness between the armored and vegetated beaches. Nevertheless, we found that functional groups such as small suspension feeders were more associated with armored beaches, while large-bodied species and predators were more frequent at vegetated beaches. Pitfall traps showed that coastal armoring also reduced the abundance of the upper-beach coleopteran Phaleria testacea, leading to a loss of biomass. Therefore, our data suggest that coastal armoring can influence the functional composition of sandy beach biodiversity and significantly impact macrobenthic abundance and biomass.

Evaluation of the effects of urbanization and environmental features on sandy beach macrobenthos highlights the importance of submerged zones.

To assess how sandy beach biodiversity is influenced by the effects of environmental features and urbanization, we sampled the macrofauna in the whole across-shore gradient of 90 beach sites in Southeast Brazil. We found that morphodynamic features were the main drivers of macrobenthos, but urbanization-related variables, such as number of beachgoers and number of constructions on the upper shore, decreased species richness and biomass. We also found that submerged zones sustained the highest number of species and biomass in the across-shore gradient, but were the most impacted by human activities. By demonstrating the ecological importance of submerged zones, our results show that beach management practices, which are mainly focused on the upper shore, are missing important components of beach biodiversity. To secure the sustainability of beach ecosystems, management initiatives should include both their social and ecological components and consider the entire Littoral Active Zone as the proper management unit.

Locally developed models improve the accuracy of remotely assessed metrics as a rapid tool to classify sandy beach morphodynamics.

Classification of beaches into morphodynamic states is a common approach in sandy beach studies, due to the influence of natural variables in ecological patterns and processes. The use of remote sensing for identifying beach type and monitoring changes has been commonly applied through multiple methods, which often involve expensive equipment and software processing of images. A previous study on the South African Coast developed a method to classify beaches using conditional tree inferences, based on beach morphological features estimated from public available satellite images, without the need for remote sensing processing, which allowed for a large-scale characterization. However, since the validation of this method has not been tested in other regions, its potential uses as a trans-scalar tool or dependence from local calibrations has not been evaluated. Here, we tested the validity of this method using a 200-km stretch of the Brazilian coast, encompassing a wide gradient of morphodynamic conditions. We also compared this locally derived model with the results that would be generated using the cut-off values established in the previous study. To this end, 87 beach sites were remotely assessed using an accessible software (i.e., Google Earth) and sampled for an in-situ environmental characterization and beach type classification. These sites were used to derive the predictive model of beach morphodynamics from the remotely assessed metrics, using conditional inference trees. An additional 77 beach sites, with a previously known morphodynamic type, were also remotely evaluated to test the model accuracy. Intertidal width and exposure degree were the only variables selected in the model to classify beach type, with an accuracy higher than 90% through different metrics of model validation. The only limitation was the inability in separating beach types in the reflective end of the morphodynamic continuum. Our results corroborated the usefulness of this method, highlighting the importance of a locally developed model, which substantially increased the accuracy. Although the use of more sophisticated remote sensing approaches should be preferred to assess coastal dynamics or detailed morphodynamic features (e.g., nearshore bars), the method used here provides an accessible and accurate approach to classify beach into major states at large spatial scales. As beach type can be used as a surrogate for biodiversity, environmental sensitivity and touristic preferences, the method may aid management in the identification of priority areas for conservation.

Envisioning ocean governability transformations through network-based marine spatial planning.

The globally accelerating environmental crisis calls for radical changes in the governance of ocean resources towards a more sustainable and socially equitable world. Transdisciplinary sustainability research and networked knowledge-to-action approaches are critical parts of this change. The effective application of such approaches still puzzles social actors (individuals and networks) willing to act in more transformative ways. We conducted twelve participatory network mapping activities to assess the perception of high-level federal government institutional entrepreneurs on the structure and dynamics of an emerging socio-political arena for marine spatial planning (MSP) in Brazil. Our informants, mostly cognizant of their own intra-governmental structures, anticipate the MSP arena to remain self-enclosed, with changes only occurring within the federal government structures in the coming years. Their perceptions were largely conservative, narrow, and unambitious and therefore unfit to generate regime transformations. The limited awareness of response capacities beyond the federal government potentially leads to the endurement of the low performance already present in the MSP arena. Results from the participatory network mapping informed a five-step functional ocean governability analysis pointing to key potential contributions to support a critical turn in MSP: 1. envision situated interactional narratives to leverage regime shifts; 2. build a shared understanding of and anticipating transformative coevolutionary dynamics; 3. build awareness of the potential synergies among disparate but innovative area-based responses; 4. specify inter-network-based limitations and the necessary changes underpinning potential leaps in performance levels of ocean governance orders; 5. make power asymmetries explicit to stir structurally tailored strategic action by less influential groups. We discuss the potential role of inter-network strategies and actions and how they may confront the symptoms of depoliticized MSP pathways and the risks of it becoming an instrument of further marginalisation and power asymmetry in Brazil. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40152-021-00250-1.

The threat of freshwater input on sandy beaches: A small-scale approach to assess macrofaunal changes related to salinity reduction.

Increased rainfall has become a key threat in recent decades for subtropical coastal regions. On sandy beaches that are associated with streams and rivers, the intensification of freshwater inputs is expected to reduce the salinity of interstitial waters and affect benthic biodiversity. Large freshwater gradients are promoted by river mouths and also change beach morphodynamic and sediment organic contents, which are covariates that have hindered the understanding of salinity-specific effects on benthic species in previous studies. Here, we aimed to assess how salinity reduction affects macrobenthic communities at small spatial scales to control the effects of environmental covariates. We assessed the macrofaunal spatial changes across few-meters gradients of freshwater influence (30 m) that were promoted by small streams (~2 m wide) within three subtropical beaches in southeastern Brazil. Our results showed that salinity was the only environmental factor that explained the macrofaunal variations across such small-scale gradients. We noted that salinity reductions decrease the overall macrobenthic abundance and richness in the first 15 m close to streams. Such variations are associated with changes in polychaete abundance (mainly Scolelepis squamata), which form larger patches with 1200-2800 individuals/m2 only at sites with high salinity (greater than 25). We also found that a salinity reduction from 33 to 20 may promote a decrease of 85% in polychaete abundance near the streams. Nevertheless, salinity reductions did not affect crustacea abundance across the gradient. In the current global change context, these results suggest that freshwater input has great potential to impact polychaete patches, reduce macrobenthic biomass and secondary production and thus threaten important beach functions and services, such as bioturbation and food provision for the top predators.

Daily environmental variation influences temporal patterns of marine debris deposition along an estuarine outlet in southern Brazil.

The influence of short-term (daily) variation in environmental conditions (rainfall, wind, tide, river flow) on debris accumulation was examined on two beaches at an estuarine outlet. Sampling occurred over 60 consecutive days along two sections (Internal Area, IA; and External Area, EA) of the Paranaguá Estuary Complex's southern outlet, in Paraná, southern Brazil. The IA is sheltered from direct wave action, whereas the EA is more exposed to wave and wind action from the open ocean. The IA accounted for 71% of the total debris, while the EA accounted for 29%. Debris abundance was highest after intermediate bouts of rainfall, although river flow only affected debris accumulation in the IA. Wind and tide influenced accumulation differently across sites. These results highlight the importance of short-term variation in the accumulation of marine debris on sandy beaches, which should be considered when designing and monitoring assessment programs and removal strategies.

Deep-sea plastisphere: Long-term colonization by plastic-associated bacterial and archaeal communities in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Marine plastic pollution is a global concern because of continuous release into the oceans over the last several decades. Although recent studies have made efforts to characterize the so-called plastisphere, or microbial community inhabiting plastic substrates, it is not clear whether the plastisphere is defined as a core community or as a random attachment of microbial cells. Likewise, little is known about the influence of the deep-sea environment on the plastisphere. In our experimental study, we evaluated the microbial colonization on polypropylene pellets and two types of plastic bags: regular high density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE with the oxo-biodegradable additive BDA. Gravel was used as control. Samples were deployed at three sites at 3300 m depth in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean and left for microbial colonization for 719 days. For microbial communities analysis, DNA was extracted from the biofilm on plastic and gravel substrates, and then the 16S rRNA was sequenced through the Illumina Miseq platform. Cultivation was performed to isolate strains from the plastic and gravel substrates. Substrate type strongly influenced the microbial composition and structure, while no difference between sites was detected. Although several taxa were shared among plastics, we observed some groups specific for each plastic substrate. These communities comprised taxa previously reported from both epipelagic zones and deep-sea benthic ecosystems. The core microbiome (microbial taxa shared by all plastic substrates) was exclusively composed by low abundance taxa, with some members well-described in the plastisphere and with known plastic-degradation capabilities. Additionally, we obtained bacterial strains that have been previously reported inhabiting plastic substrates and/or degrading hydrocarbon compounds, which corroborates our metabarcoding data and suggests the presence of microbial members potentially active and involved with degradation of these plastics in the deep sea.

The Dynamics of Multiscale Institutional Complexes: the Case of the São Paulo Macrometropolitan Region.

The concept of institutional interplay (i.e., the interaction between institutions) is critical if the challenges to multilevel governance are to be better understood and addressed. Drawing on the literature on institutional interplay, this paper develops an analytical approach to examine challenges to multilevel coastal governance. São Paulo Macrometropolitan region (MMP, in Portuguese) is used to ground the empirical analysis. The macrometropolitan is one of the largest urban areas in the Southern Hemisphere; it houses the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo-one of the six most significant in the world. The MMP concentrates critical infrastructure, such as ports, airports, and roads, and considerable knowledge, technology, and innovation hubs. The coastal governance in the MMP area characterizes a highly connected multilevel system formed by 60 organizations (7 international, 29 national, 11 state, and 13 local). These comprised a complex environment featuring a great deal of fragmentation, and, consequently, jurisdictional and functional gaps and overlaps. This case was best described in terms of normative, functional, and political interplay. Interplay management has the potential to improve governance on the cross-level interactions among scale-dependent institutions of the MMP, enhancing synergies, and minimizing tensions among the institutions analyzed. This includes fostering cognitive interaction (i.e., promoting interinstitutional learning and assistance, and enhancing synergy) between institutions with complementary and/or similar objectives. Ultimately, interplay management may reduce fragmentation, improve compliance and monitoring, and increase cost-effectiveness. The findings from this paper may prove useful to other jurisdictions where pressing environmental issues involve multiple governance levels and interacting institutions.

Decadal losses of canopy-forming algae along the warm temperate coastline of Brazil.

The loss of canopy-forming seaweeds from urbanized coasts has intensified in response to warming seas and non-climatic pressures such as population growth and declining water quality. Surprisingly, there has been little information on the extent of historical losses in the South-western Atlantic, which limits our ability to place this large marine ecosystem in a global context. Here, we use meta-analysis to examine long-term (1969-2017) changes to the cover and biomass of Sargassum spp. and structurally simple algal turfs along more than 1,000 kilometres of Brazil's warm temperate coastline. Analysis revealed major declines in canopy cover that were independent of season (i.e., displaying similar trends for both summer and winter) but varied with coastal environmental setting, whereby sheltered bays experienced greater losses than coastal locations. On average, covers of Sargassum spp. declined by 2.6% per year, to show overall losses of 52% since records began (ranging from 20% to 89%). This contrasted with increases in the cover of filamentous turfs (24% over the last 27 years) which are known to proliferate along human-impacted coasts. To test the relative influence of climatic versus non-climatic factors as drivers of this apparent canopy-to-turf shift, we examined how well regional warming trends (decadal changes to sea surface temperature) and local proxies of coastal urbanization (population density, thermal pollution, turbidity and nutrient inputs) were able to predict the changes in seaweed communities. Our results revealed that the most pronounced canopy losses over the past 50 years were at sites exhibiting the greatest degree of coastal warming, the highest population growth and those located in semi-enclosed sheltered bays. These findings contribute knowledge on the drivers of canopy loss in the South-western Atlantic and join with global efforts to understand and mitigate declines of marine keystone species.

Laundering and textile parameters influence fibers release in household washings.

Synthetic fibers represent one of the main forms of microplastics in marine environment and recently were related to household washings as a source. Although other types of fiber, like natural, do not rely under this classification, there is a potential for them to act as a vector of toxic substances to biota in the same way as microplastics do. Consequently all types of fiber have the potential to cause variable ecologic and socioeconomic impacts. In this scenario, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of washing parameters in the emission of fibers on textiles with different characteristics and fiber content: cotton, acrylic, polyester and polyamide. For this purpose individual garments were sequentially washed with and without detergent. Results showed that the use of a detergent reduced significantly the mass of particles emitted from synthetic garments but not from cotton, which, in relative terms, was responsible for the highest emissions. Textile characteristics such as mass availability and fiber cohesion influenced results, where shorter irregular fibers and lower tenacities dealt to higher releases. For all types of garments tested, 10 sequential cycles decreased particles' release, with peaks in three firsts washes (from 37% to 76%). Taking into account a regular washing machine filter, a considerable mass of fibers (from 40% to 75%) was not retained by this device, indicating a potential for improvement. Together, simple solutions as the use of detergents, three pre-washes and superimposed filter meshes, could diminish >53% of this type of pollution. Besides this potential reduction, globally, in one year, domestic washing machines would still contribute with around 15 thousand tonnes of cotton and synthetic fibers. A structured and sustained solution for this problem should advance in an interdisciplinary approach, fomenting responsibility from plural actors, taken in all stages of products' life cycle.

Elevated pCO2 does not impair performance in autotomised individuals of the intertidal predatory starfish Asterias rubens (Linnaeus, 1758).

The impacts of ocean acidification remain less well-studied in starfish compared to other echinoderm groups. This study examined the combined effects of elevated pCO2 and arm regeneration on the performance of the intertidal predatory starfish Asterias rubens, as both are predicted to come at a cost to the individual. A two-way factorial experiment (~400 µatm vs ~1000 µatm; autotomised vs non-automised individuals) was used to examine growth rates, lipid content (pyloric caeca and gonads), and calcium content (body wall) in both intact and regenerating arms, as well as subsequent effects on rate of arm regeneration, righting time (behaviour) and mortality over 120 days. Autotomised individuals tended to show lower (not significant), survival and growth. Elevated pCO2 had no effect on mortality, body growth, arm regeneration, righting time or arm calcium content. Lipid content was higher in the pyloric caeca, but not in the gonads, in response to elevated pCO2 irrespective of autotomisation. The results of the study suggest that adult A. rubens remain unaffected by increased pCO2 and/or arm autotomy for 120 days, although longer term experiments are necessary as the results indicated that survival, growth and calcification may be impaired with longer-term exposure to elevated pCO2.