Litter behaviour on Mediterranean cobble beaches, SE Spain
2021
Asensio-Montesinos, Francisco | Anfuso, Giorgio | Williams, Allan T. | Sanz-Lázaro, Carlos | Sanz-Lázaro, Carlos | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ecología | Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramón Margalef" | Gestión de Ecosistemas y de la Biodiversidad (GEB) | Bioquímica Aplicada/Applied Biochemistry (AppBiochem)
Despite the large research effort on reporting quantities of coastal litter, the dynamics of this litter is not yet sufficiently understood. Litter inputs in five cobble beaches located in the Mediterranean (Spain) were studied over three months during winter by biweekly litter tagging. Plastic represented the dominant material that reached the beaches (77%). In remote and narrow beaches, storms constituted the main driver in litter dynamics, favouring the accumulation of floating items such as plastic bottles and wood fragments as well as the largest but contrasting effects, increasing litter inputs and outputs from the beach, respectively. In rural beaches, beach users, mainly fisher people, but also tourists, contributed to a notable input of litter to the beach. Burial and exhumation of litter were reported as common occurring processes. Better management actions are required to improve beach environmental quality.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]This research is a contribution to the Andalusia PAI Research Group “RNM-328” and to the Ibero-American Beach Management and Certification Network - PROPLAYAS. This work was supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge from Spain [FBIOMARINA19-01].
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