Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China

Fengrun WU; Xueyan LI; Chengyi ZHANG; Tao WANG

doi:0.1007/s00343-024-3277-8

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Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China

Micro- and nano-plastics in marine environments | Updated：2025-03-21

- Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China
- Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China
- 海洋湖沼学报(英文) 2025年43卷第2期页码：396-405
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China
  2.State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Author bio：
  
  frwu1993@163.com
- Funds：
  
  the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province(2022J05278);the Marine and Fishery Development Special Fund of Xiamen(23YYST064QCB36)
- DOI：0.1007/s00343-024-3277-8
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2023-12-20，
  
  网络首发：2024-02-21，
  
  纸质出版：2025-03-01
- Accepted：
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Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China[J]. 海洋湖沼学报(英文), 2025,43(2):396-405.

WU Fengrun,LI Xueyan,ZHANG Chengyi,et al.Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):396-405.
Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China[J]. 海洋湖沼学报(英文), 2025,43(2):396-405. DOI： 0.1007/s00343-024-3277-8.

WU Fengrun,LI Xueyan,ZHANG Chengyi,et al.Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of microplastics in the sediment of beaches in Xiamen City, China[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):396-405. DOI： 0.1007/s00343-024-3277-8.

摘要

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are plagued by high levels of microplastic pollution. Conducting baseline surveys is crucial to comprehend the distribution and influencing factors of this pollution. The present study investigates the spatiotemporal variation and diversity of microplastic on the coastal beaches in Xiamen City

China

considering the combined effects of seasons

human activities

and physicochemical properties of sediments. It is detected that the abundance of microplastics in Xiamen beaches was 0.271±0.01 items/g. The abundance of microplastics in dry season was significantly higher than in rainy season. In terms of spatial variation

the beaches that attracted a larger number of tourists exhibited significantly higher microplastic abundance. The temporal pattern of microplastic distribution on different beaches varied greatly due to region-specific human activities (e.g.

mangrove restoration project) and sedimentary properties (e.g.

bulk density). When the assemblage of microplastics in the coastal area was viewed as a biological community

the Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou’s index were higher in rainy season and in the beaches with high intensity of tourist activities

which suggests that the human activities and the surface runoff may contribute to the diversity of microplastics on coastal beaches. Future investigations are encouraged to combine controlled experiments and long-term monitoring at multiple scales to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and factors associated with microplastic pollution in coastal zone.

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references

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