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Anthropogenic marine debris and its dynamics across peri-urban and urban mangroves on Penang Island, Malaysia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-24, 04:18 authored by Yin, CS, Chai, YJ, Danielle, C, Yusri, Y, John Barry GallagherJohn Barry Gallagher
Mangroves act as sinks to a variety of anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) forms. However, knowledge of their distribution and accumulation dynamics is limited. To address this shortfall, abundance, sorting, and diversity parameters of AMD were evaluated across the canopy of Penang’s urban and peri-urban mangroves. Two urban and two peri-urban mangroves were sampled at different periods over 2 months, with differences constrained by possible changes in their wind fields, and neap-spring tidal development. Debris were counted and classified across transects parallel to the coastline at progressively higher water marks. Plastics made up most of the AMD across all sites. More AMD was retained in the urban sites, consistent with their larger resident population density. Diversity of debris forms were consistent with the type of land use and population livelihood in each area. The greatest differences in abundance, diversity, and evenness were recorded between the lower tidal zones and the remaining inner transects consistent with sorting towards the coastal edge in favour of plastic items. Overall, differences across transects and sites suggested: 1) the canopy and root structure within the main body of the mangrove efficiently retained debris with little sorting; and 2) debris deposited closer to the edge is increasingly sorted and lost to the water body in favour of smaller plastic items, for a constant wind field and irrespective of neap-spring phases. The findings show that mangrove areas are vulnerable to a constant build of potentially harmful debris with selective leakage and sorting of materials back to the water body closer to their coastal edges. For Penang Island, the study highlights the areas in need of attention and prioritization, lists the types of debris needing proper management, and will aid in the future monitoring, mitigation and/or rehabilitation of these sensitive ecosystems.

History

Publication title

Journal of Sustainability Science and Management

Volume

15

Issue

6

Pagination

41-67

ISSN

1823-8556

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

Place of publication

Malaysia

Rights statement

Copyright 2020 Penerbit UMT

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems