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Recommended best practices for plastic and litter ingestion studies in marine birds: collection, processing, and reporting
Citation
Provencher, JF and Borrelle, SB and Bond, AL and Lavers, JL and van Franeker, JA and Kuhn, S and Hammer, S and Avery-Gomm, S and Mallory, ML, Recommended best practices for plastic and litter ingestion studies in marine birds: collection, processing, and reporting, Facets, 4 pp. 111-130. ISSN 2371-1671 (2019) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 Provencher et al. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB
DOI: doi:10.1139/facets-2018-0043
Abstract
Marine plastic pollution is an environmental contaminant of significant concern. There is a lack of consistency in sample collection and processing that continues to impede meta-analyses and large-scale comparisons across time and space. This is true for most taxa, including seabirds, which are the most studied megafauna group with regards to plastic ingestion research. Consequently, it is difficult to evaluate the impacts and extent of plastic contamination in seabirds fully and accurately, and to make inferences about species for which we have little or no data. We provide a synthesized set of recommendations specific for seabirds and plastic ingestion studies that include best practices in relation to sample collection, processing, and reporting, as well as highlighting some "cross-cutting" methods. We include guidance for how carcasses, regurgitations, and pellets should be handled and treated to prevent cross-contamination, and a discussion of what size class of microplastics can be assessed in each sample type. Although we focus on marine bird samples, we also include standardized techniques to remove sediment and biological material that are generalizable to other taxa. Lastly, metrics and data presentation of ingested plastics are briefly reviewed in the context of seabird studies.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | seabird ecology, plastic pollution, method development, marine debris, bird, bolus, diet analysis, marine debris, method standardization, necropsy, plastic debris, plastic ingestion |
Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
Research Group: | Environmental management |
Research Field: | Conservation and biodiversity |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
Objective Field: | Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems |
UTAS Author: | Bond, AL (Dr Alexander Bond) |
UTAS Author: | Lavers, JL (Dr Jennifer Lavers) |
ID Code: | 132558 |
Year Published: | 2019 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 46 |
Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
Deposited On: | 2019-05-13 |
Last Modified: | 2020-01-06 |
Downloads: | 39 View Download Statistics |
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