Assessing the Effects of Macroplastics on Shell Development and Structure of Barnacles

Presentation Type

Poster

Presentation Type

Submission

Department

Biology

Major

Biology

Abstract

Plastic pollution is one of the most important environmental issues currently, disproportionately affecting marine ecosystems because of vectors bringing plastics from upstream on land to coastal systems via storm drainages, freshwater sources, and littering. Much of the world relies on marine life as a source of nutrition and for many other ecosystem services. Hence, it is important to understand the effect of plastic pollutants on our marine fauna. We seek to better understand the potential effects that plastic substrates have on barnacle growth and development primarily through comparison of barnacle shells grown on plastic versus natural substrates like wood and rock. We attached plastic coffee lids on a plastic mesh with zip ties and secured the mesh on wooden piers at Paradise Cove beach in Malibu, California. We will leave this apparatus for a few months, periodically checking the status of barnacle growth. Once barnacles have grown large enough (at least 1 cm basal diameter) on the plastic coffee lids, we will extract the plastic from the pier as well as take mussels with barnacles growing epiphytically on them to examine the shell structure of the barnacles using uCT x-ray technology. With these images, we will be able to use parameters of each species of similar sizes to determine if there is a significant difference in structure based on diameter (fixed plate and basal), thickness, shell cavities, operculum, etc.. These results will provide further insight on the potential effects of plastics that have not yet been studied on benthic organisms.

Faculty Mentor

Dr. La Valle, Dr. Holmlund

Funding Source or Research Program

Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

24-3-2023 2:00 PM

End Date

24-3-2023 4:00 PM

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Mar 24th, 2:00 PM Mar 24th, 4:00 PM

Assessing the Effects of Macroplastics on Shell Development and Structure of Barnacles

Waves Cafeteria

Plastic pollution is one of the most important environmental issues currently, disproportionately affecting marine ecosystems because of vectors bringing plastics from upstream on land to coastal systems via storm drainages, freshwater sources, and littering. Much of the world relies on marine life as a source of nutrition and for many other ecosystem services. Hence, it is important to understand the effect of plastic pollutants on our marine fauna. We seek to better understand the potential effects that plastic substrates have on barnacle growth and development primarily through comparison of barnacle shells grown on plastic versus natural substrates like wood and rock. We attached plastic coffee lids on a plastic mesh with zip ties and secured the mesh on wooden piers at Paradise Cove beach in Malibu, California. We will leave this apparatus for a few months, periodically checking the status of barnacle growth. Once barnacles have grown large enough (at least 1 cm basal diameter) on the plastic coffee lids, we will extract the plastic from the pier as well as take mussels with barnacles growing epiphytically on them to examine the shell structure of the barnacles using uCT x-ray technology. With these images, we will be able to use parameters of each species of similar sizes to determine if there is a significant difference in structure based on diameter (fixed plate and basal), thickness, shell cavities, operculum, etc.. These results will provide further insight on the potential effects of plastics that have not yet been studied on benthic organisms.