Which marine organism has scholarly research focused on regarding the impact of plastics? a.Fish b.Seabirds c.Mammals d.Turtles As marine organisms eat plastic, the plastic and toxins amplify at higher trophic levels of the food web. This process is called ______. a.biomagnification b.bioamplification c.biomodulation

Applications and Investigations in Earth Science (9th Edition)
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Author:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. Tasa
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Chapter1: The Study Of Minerals
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Which marine organism has scholarly research focused on regarding the impact of plastics?
a.Fish
b.Seabirds
c.Mammals
d.Turtles

As marine organisms eat plastic, the plastic and toxins amplify at higher trophic levels of the food web. This process is called ______.
a.biomagnification
b.bioamplification
c.biomodulation

Impact of Plastic on Wildlife
Marine animals feed in different oceanic zones. They find food in the surface ocean as well in the benthic zone near the ocean floor. In some regions of the surface ocean,
microplastics outnumber phytoplankton floating in the surface water. A study at the turn of the last century found that 267 species worldwide are affected by plastic,
which includes most sea turtles and almost half of seabirds and marine mammals.
Animals become entangled in plastic refuse and cannot come back to the surface to breathe, dying by drowning. Besides physical constraints, animals also eat plastic for
food. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, while seabirds dive into the surface ocean and scoop up fish as well as plastic fragments. They feed them to their young
as well as eating it themselves. Not only does plastic not move through their gastrointestinal systems, plastics often contain toxins, like DDT and PCBS. These toxins
accumulate in the animals and are passed to higher trophic levels of the marine food web through biomagnification.
Figure 14B-4 shows the number of research studies for different marine animals. The stacked graph shows the increase in publications for each marine animal. It is
possible to determine the exact number by subtracting the final number for a given year from the initial number. For example, turtle publications in 2012 was
approximately 260 in the stacked graph and the number on the graph is 200, so the total number of publications focused on turtles in 2012 was 60.
400
350
300
250
Fish
200
Turtles
Mammals
1 Seabirds
150
100
50
Year of publication
Figure 14B-4. The cumulative number of publications that report marine megafauna, including seabirds, mammals, turtles, and fish ingestion of plastic from 1949 to 2015. [Courtesy: Provencher
et al., 2017 ].
Cumulative number of publications
1949
19523
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1973
1976
1982
1985
886T
1991
2661
0007
2003
E900z
6007
2012
2015
Transcribed Image Text:Impact of Plastic on Wildlife Marine animals feed in different oceanic zones. They find food in the surface ocean as well in the benthic zone near the ocean floor. In some regions of the surface ocean, microplastics outnumber phytoplankton floating in the surface water. A study at the turn of the last century found that 267 species worldwide are affected by plastic, which includes most sea turtles and almost half of seabirds and marine mammals. Animals become entangled in plastic refuse and cannot come back to the surface to breathe, dying by drowning. Besides physical constraints, animals also eat plastic for food. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, while seabirds dive into the surface ocean and scoop up fish as well as plastic fragments. They feed them to their young as well as eating it themselves. Not only does plastic not move through their gastrointestinal systems, plastics often contain toxins, like DDT and PCBS. These toxins accumulate in the animals and are passed to higher trophic levels of the marine food web through biomagnification. Figure 14B-4 shows the number of research studies for different marine animals. The stacked graph shows the increase in publications for each marine animal. It is possible to determine the exact number by subtracting the final number for a given year from the initial number. For example, turtle publications in 2012 was approximately 260 in the stacked graph and the number on the graph is 200, so the total number of publications focused on turtles in 2012 was 60. 400 350 300 250 Fish 200 Turtles Mammals 1 Seabirds 150 100 50 Year of publication Figure 14B-4. The cumulative number of publications that report marine megafauna, including seabirds, mammals, turtles, and fish ingestion of plastic from 1949 to 2015. [Courtesy: Provencher et al., 2017 ]. Cumulative number of publications 1949 19523 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1973 1976 1982 1985 886T 1991 2661 0007 2003 E900z 6007 2012 2015
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