Produção Nacional
Marine debris on Rio Grande do Sul north coast, Brazil: spatial and temporal patterns
2011; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.5894/rgci187
ISSN1646-8872
AutoresLuana Portz, Rogério Portantiolo Manzolli, Juliana A. Ivar do Sul,
Tópico(s)Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
ResumoMarine debris is any solid waste (plastic, polystyrene, rubber, foam, glass, metal, cloth, and other materials) that enters the marine or coastal environments from any source.Sources are frequently defined as land-based and marine-based, and its identification is being recognized as an important step towards the solutions related to marine debris problems.They include damages to the biota, to fishing activities and beach environmental degradation.In Brazil, the occurrence of marine debris is relatively well documented, but quantities, sources and spatial and temporal patterns of marine debris are unknown for the North sector of the Rio Grande do Sul coastline.On Xangri-Lá beaches, marine debris was studied during three months (February, April and August) in ten transects also divided into two horizontal strata (backshore and dunes) which were sampled separately.Plastics (42%) were the main class of material, sampled on all monitored months, transects and strata, followed by cigarette butts (39%).Among plastic debris, fragments (41%) were the majority, showing that beach cleaning services are not an efficient solution to marine debris problem on Xangri-lá beaches.February was the most contaminated month considering the total items sampled on the beach, specific types of plastics and only cigarette butts.No significant differences were detected among backshore and dunes or sampled transects.Land-based sources were where the great majority (68%) of marine debris originated, attributed mostly to beach users.The absence of marine-based sources was related to the nonexistence of big rivers or fishing ports.The necessity of long term educational programs in spite of the short term methods is highlighted.
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