Polluted rivers and lakes worldwide are host to a new and evolving population of microorganisms and bacteria that have made their home on plastic waste. This new trash-loving ecosystem, dubbed the ‘plastisphere’, is causing everything from water oxygen depletion to potential disease introduction and is altering the overall health of large w88 online sports betting systems, according to w88 online sports betting published in the August 2024 issue of the journal, Water w88 online sports betting.
“Rivers provide a broad array of ecosystem services, like supplying drinking water and irrigation for growing crops to supporting inland fisheries that hundreds of millions of people use for food resources,” Veronica Nava, a scientist at the University of Milano-Bicocca and the study’s lead author, said. “Our study is one of the first to go beyond describing the small organisms growing on the different plastic materials polluting our world’s waterways to show that they are changing the cycling of nutrients in the w88 online sports betting and are causing a dramatic reduction of oxygen in the w88 online sports betting system. These changes impact a w88 online sports betting’s health and ability to support biodiversity within its ecosystems.”
A consortium of research institutions analyzed the plastisphere of the Lower Mekong w88 online sports betting system in Cambodia – one of the world's most diverse and productive rivers. By monitoring several impacts to the rivers’ health, they found that thriving populations of bacteria living on the surface of plastic waste were significantly altering overall water quality and impacting ecosystem services, especially in areas with mismanaged waste. Additionally, the researchers observed the presence of potentially pathogenic organisms which could have implications for human health, though more analysis is necessary.
While collecting plastic waste for analysis, two small fish are found trapped in a piece of plastic film that made its way into the w88 online sports betting. (Courtesy of Wonders of the Mekong)
The consortium, part w88 online sports betting USAID-funded Wonders of the w88 online sports betting project, included researchers from the w88 online sports betting Milano-Bicocca; w88 online sports betting Nevada, Reno; Institute of Technology of Cambodia; Desert Research Institute and Royal w88 online sports betting Phnom Penh.
The study was multifaceted, examining accumulations of microorganisms on plastic waste found in the rivers as well as reproducing the growth of these microorganisms on plastic submerged in w88 online sports betting water in the lab. Notably, the group looked at the microorganisms’ selectivity to try and better understand if waste type would impact their growth and productivity.
“The combination of studying four different plastics in three different rivers with the various measurement types makes this study unique,” Monica Arienzo, associate w88 online sports betting professor in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert w88 online sports betting Institute, said. “Bringing together these data are important for understanding potential impacts of plastics to aquatic ecosystems.”
Veronica Nava inspects an algae-covered piece of plastic film found in the Lower Mekong w88 online sports betting system. (Photo courtesy of Wonders of the w88 online sports betting)
While the Mekong w88 online sports betting supports the livelihood of more than 60 million people, it is also one of the more stressed rivers on the planet with changing hydrology due to dam development and land use impacts including deforestation, overfishing and illegal trade of giant charismatic fish across the region. The w88 online sports betting is home to the recently discovered Giant freshwater w88 online sports betting tracked by University, among other rare species nearing extinction. Discarded plastic waste in the w88 online sports betting is becoming increasingly more common, potentially impacting the rich w88 online sports betting diversity and fishing productivity.
“The Mekong w88 online sports betting and its tributaries are rich in biodiversity, but plastic pollution is a growing problem in the Mekong w88 online sports betting basin, as it is in freshwater bodies around the world” Professor Sudeep Chandra, one of the study’s authors and Director of the Global Water Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, said. “If you scale this work up, it could be that because the microorganisms inhabiting the floating rafts of plastic are reducing oxygen in the w88 online sports betting, we’ll begin finding ‘dead zones' where fishes and other animals can’t survive, especially during the dry season.”
Mounds of plastic can be seen on the Mekong w88 online sports betting system's riverbanks. (Photo courtesy of Wonders of the Mekong)
Plastic waste mixed with plant matter can be seen floating in the Mekong w88 online sports betting in Cambodia. (Photo courtesy of Wonders of the Mekong).
The reduction of oxygen is hypothesized to also contribute to the production of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.
“High levels of w88 online sports betting pollution could yield biogeochemical hot spots for greenhouse gas production within rivers,” Chandra continues. “Simply, we cannot take the loading of plastics within freshwaters lightly as they may control so many features of rivers and affect the things we are trying to conserve.”
Rivers have frequently been studied as contributors of w88 online sports betting to the ocean, with the world’s rivers carrying up to 265,000 metric tons of discarded w88 online sports betting each year to the sea. This first-of-its-kind w88 online sports betting brings to light a new set of challenges that must be addressed to protect rivers and the ecosystem services they provide. This new and growing freshwater plastisphere could have far-reaching impacts, according to the researchers:
- Water quality, oxygen and nutrient declines could impact the health of fish and other w88 online sports betting dwellers. This is especially worrisome in rivers like the Mekong w88 online sports betting, one of the most biodiverse and functionally important rivers worldwide.
- Bacterial and tiny algae colonization called biofilms on the plastics may encourage larger organisms to ingest the “flavored” w88 online sports betting.
- Potentially pathogenic microbes living on the w88 online sports betting may affect the drinking water supply for humans.
- w88 online sports betting trash coated with biofilms has the potential to travel far distances, expanding the geographic impact of the plastisphere as it moves downriver with currents.
In 2023, Nava and Chandra published w88 online sports betting in Nature about the Lake Tahoe has high concentration of microplastics, global w88 sports betting, like Lake Tahoe in the U.S. and Lakes Lugano and Maggiore in Italy. This new research provides the first evidence of the broader ecological impacts of plastic waste in w88 online sports betting systems and is a first step in better understanding the impacts of the plastisphere on the world’s freshwater ecosystems.
“This study highlights the surprising interconnections between plastic pollution and aquatic ecosystems and underscores the need to develop solutions to reduce w88 online sports betting” Zeb Hogan, associate research professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Nevada Reno and Director of the Wonders of the Mekong Project, said. “Policies that reduce w88 online sports betting will benefit people, through improved ecosystem function, better water and more fish."
