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Article

Attached Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Marine Plastic Debris from the Beach and Port Areas of the Southern Sea of Korea

by
Gwan Hee Han
1,2,
Sang Lyeol Kim
2,
Su Min Kang
2,
Hyung-Gon Lee
2 and
Ok Hwan Yu
1,2,*
1
Department of Convergence Study on the Ocean Science and Technology, Ocean Science and Technology School, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112, Republic of Korea
2
Marine Ecosystem and Biological Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, Busan 49111, Republic of Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(2), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020252
Submission received: 21 November 2022 / Revised: 17 January 2023 / Accepted: 18 January 2023 / Published: 19 January 2023
(This article belongs to the Section Marine Biology)
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Abstract

:
The increasing amount of marine plastic debris (MPD) poses risks of ingestion, entanglement, and transport of alien species. A new ecosystem called the “plastisphere” is currently being studied, but relevant research on it is limited. In this study, we analyzed the frequency of appearance of macroinvertebrate species on MPD. Macroinvertebrates attached to MPD were collected once every three months from March to December 2021 in eight regions. MPD in the form of aquaculture and fishing gear was detected most frequently during the study. In total, two phyla, 14 orders, 19 families, and 41 species of attached macroinvertebrates were detected during the study. There were more attached macroinvertebrate species, and they were more frequent, on fishing/aquaculture MPD (sea origin) than packaging MPD (land origin). Most fishing/aquaculture MPD is made of softer or rougher materials than packaging MPD and has a longer exposure time in the sea. In particular, the alien species Mytilus galloprovincialis was found on all longer-exposure MPD. These findings suggest that the macroinvertebrates attached to MPD are affected by the duration of exposure to the water and the characteristics of the MPD material. Therefore, in the future, fishing/aquaculture MPD could be used as an indicator for monitoring MPD-attached organisms.

1. Introduction

The quantity of marine plastic debris (MPD) has been increasing over the past 50 years [1], and between 4.8 and 12 million tonnes of plastic litter enter the world’s oceans annually [2]. As one of the most common environmental problems worldwide, MPD is threatening marine ecosystems [3]; marine mammals, fish, and marine invertebrates are at risk of MPD ingestion and entanglement [4,5]. However, the biggest problem with MPD is that it is a vector for the transport of alien species. Historically, natural objects such as seeds, trees, seaweed, and pumice were the main rafts for alien species. In modern times, however, MPD is increasingly assuming this role [6]. MPD is very buoyant and can be transported thousands of kilometers via waves and currents [7]; thus, it serves as a raft that enables short- and long-distance transport of alien species [8]. As studies that best demonstrated the widespread mobility of MPD, MPD surveys after the 2011 East Japan Earthquake identified nearly 300 species of marine invertebrates living in Japan on MPD from the west coast of Hawaii and North America (≥6000 km away) [7]. This shows that MPD can be a vehicle for the widespread dissemination of marine invertebrates to other regions [7,9]. However, MPD is difficult to predict accurately because the amount of litter transported over time and distance varies considerably on local or national scales according to sporadic changes in ocean currents [3,10,11,12].
A recent study reported that MPD not only serves as rafts for alien species, but also as a new ecosystem inhabited by marine invertebrates called “the plastisphere” [6]. The plastisphere has high species diversity [10]. If MPD, with its high species diversity, is introduced in an area, the threat of alien species will increase [13]. The appearance of alien species on MPD has been reported regularly [7,13,14]. Some alien species were more frequent in litter than in ports [13]. The appearance of alien species disrupts ecosystems because of various stressors, such as disease, predation, and competition for space [15,16]. Therefore, research on MPD is essential. However, studies of attached macroinvertebrates on MPD worldwide have focused on specific MPD, such as plastic bottles and ropes [13]. Notably, studies of MPD in offshore waters [17], and of goose barnacles (genus Lepas), which are common in MPD [18], are limited to specific materials, regions, and organisms. Moreover, few studies have examined the attached macroinvertebrates according to the type of MPD material and area of MPD inflow [3,19]. Due to their long life cycles, wide distribution, and high fecundity, macroinvertebrates are important indicators for monitoring and assessing changes in marine environments [20,21]. In Korea, analyses of MPD distribution have been conducted in coastal areas and estuaries [22,23,24,25]. Recently, a survey examined the distribution of marine debris in all Korean waters [26]. However, few studies have investigated the organisms that inhabit MPD. Therefore, this study examined attached macroinvertebrates in MPD found in Korea through a MPD survey conducted on Jeju Island and the southern coast of Korea. This confirmed the introduction of alien species. This study provides basic data on attached macroinvertebrates in MPD in Korea. We hypothesized that more species of attached macroinvertebrates will appear in fishing/aquaculture MPD (e.g., buoys, fishing gear, etc.) with longer exposure to the marine environment.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Area

Surveys were conducted four times, once every three months from March to December 2021. MPD was collected after consulting the national coastal litter control and monitoring report [27], to select Korean beaches and ports in eight coastal areas in the southern sea and Jeju Island where marine debris was present (Figure 1, Table 1). The Shinan and Jeju areas were most affected by ocean currents; thus, these areas exhibited substantial inflow of foreign-originating MPD [27].

2.2. Plastic Litter Sorting

The MPD was collected and classified according to material type (Table 2). First, it was divided into fishing/aquaculture or packaging material. Fishing/aquaculture material is mostly used by fishermen and mainly generated at sea, whereas packaging material is household waste that originates on land. Unclassifiable litter was classified as other plastics. Then, each litter type was reclassified as one of 12 specific items (e.g., buoys [EPS]/EPS debris, rope/string, netting, and plastic bottles).

2.3. Sampling

We regularly sampled floating MPD at the same ports and beaches once every three months (Figure 2). Each beach or port was sampled on one day during daylight. MPD was collected by hand or using a landing net (300 μm mesh). To exclude drying-related changes in organisms, we did not sample dried MPD that had been exposed to water for an extended period; MPD with attached organisms was mainly sampled. The MPD was collected by classifying the materials at the site according to the classification system for each MPD material (Table 2). Foreign-originating MPD was identified by the source classification methods [28,29] (Figure 3). Each of the classified MPDs was assigned a code and photographed. Then, attached macroinvertebrates (>1 mm) were collected using a sharp chisel or by hand, and the MPD surface was cleaned using a compression sprayer filled with fresh water. The samples were fixed in 70% ethanol on-site, refrigerated, and transferred to the laboratory. The samples were sieved through a 1-mm sieve, and the number of individuals was counted by classification of each taxon. The attached macroinvertebrates were classified according to species level using a stereomicroscope; the specimens were placed in vials labeled with the MPD material and taxon, then stored in 70% ethanol. The collection site, collection period, and MPD material, as well as the number of individuals in each taxon, were recorded on a sheet for each stored sample.

2.4. Cluster Analysis

Cluster analysis was performed to compare differences between MPD of sea (fishing/aquaculture) and land (packaging) origin. Cluster analysis results and non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) plots were analyzed using the Sørensen Index of similarity (for presence/absence transformed data for attached macroinvertebrate species). Similarity profile (SIMPROF) permutation tests were performed to identify significant clusters among the samples. These analyses were performed using PRIMER ver. 7 (Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK).

3. Results

3.1. Attached Macroinvertebrates in MPD Materials

In total, 199 MPD items were collected during the study. Among the MPD, rope/string was collected most frequently (37 items, 18.6%), whereas fishing gear was collected least frequently (four items, 2.0%). Foreign-originating MPD comprised 92.5% and 7.5% of domestic MPD, respectively. The foreign-originating MPD included eight buoys (other), six plastic bottles, and one other plastic item (Table 2). Thirteen species were present in the foreign-originating MPD: seven species of Thoracica (barnacles) and three species each of Gastropoda (snails) and Bivalvia (shellfish).
Two phyla, fourteen orders, nineteen families, and forty one species of attached macroinvertebrates were present in the collected MPD. According to the MPD material, there were eighteen attached macroinvertebrate species on rope/string, followed by seventeen on buoys (other), and sixteen on netting. One species was present on other packaging. Many macroinvertebrates species were attached to fishing/aquaculture materials (Figure 4).
We compared the taxonomic composition of attached macroinvertebrates on each MPD material. The most frequent taxa on each material were as follows (Figure 5): Bivalvia (53.5%) on buoys (EPS)/EPS debris, Thoracica (63.9%) on buoys (other), Bivalvia (85.1%) on rope/string, Thoracica (52.0%) on netting, Thoracica (93.8%) on fishing gear, Bivalvia (88.2%) on mixed fishing gear, Thoracica (56.6%) on other fishing gear, Gastropoda (100.0%) on vinyl/snack bag, Thoracica (75.7%) on gunny sacks, Bivalvia (61.5%) on plastic bottles, Thoracica (96.0%) on plastic containers, Bivalvia (100.0%) on other packaging, and Thoracica (93.7%) on other packaging. Most MPD materials had a high percentage of Bivalvia or Thoracica. Only Gastropoda was present on the vinyl/snack bag, and only Bivalvia was present on other packaging.

3.2. Attached Macroinvertebrates Appearance

The top five most frequently attached macroinvertebrate species on all MPD were recorded (Table 3). Mytilus galloprovincialis (blue mussel) appeared most frequently (20.6%), followed by Amphibalanus improvisus (15.1%). Of the species detected, M. galloprovincialis is an alien species, and Lepas anatifera and Lepas anserifera are pelagic species.
Based on the information in Figure 4, the top five most frequent species in the three materials with the largest numbers of species among all MPD were recorded (Table 4). M. galloprovincialis appeared most frequently (8.7%) on buoys (other), followed by Fistulobalanus kondakovi (6.5%). A. improvisus appeared most frequently (6.1%) on rope/string, followed by M. galloprovincialis (4.9%). On nets, A. improvisus, Fistulobalanus albicostatus, and M. galloprovincialis appeared most frequently (3.8%). When comparing the three MPD materials with the largest number of species, we found that the pelagic species L. anatifera and L. anserifera appeared only on buoys (others).

3.3. Attached Macroinvertebrates Cluster Analysis

Cluster and nMDS analysis of the presence/absence transformed data for attached macroinvertebrate species in domestic MPD was performed (Figure 6). Based on the SIMPROF test, the clusters were divided into three groups and the clusters were divided mainly into fishing/aquaculture MPD and packaging MPD. In the case of group b, fishing/aquaculture MPDs were grouped.

4. Discussion

In this study, analyses of MPD in Korea (eight areas of the southern sea and Jeju Island) showed that the most common MPD was fishing/aquaculture (e.g., rope/string and buoy [EPS]/EPS debris); fishing/aquaculture MPD was detected more frequently than packaging MPD (Table 1). These results were not significantly different from the findings of previous studies of MPD in Korea [30,31]. In particular, the present study showed that only buoys (other) and plastic bottles were present as the foreign-originating MPD. These results were similar to the findings in a study where most foreign-originating MPD in the western waters of Korea comprised plastic bottles and buoys [25]. These findings are presumably related to the buoyancy of buoys and plastic bottles, which enabled greater transport than other materials [32]. Therefore, most foreign-originating MPD in this study was composed of buoys and plastic bottles with good buoyancy. Additionally, the appearance of the foreign-originating MPD in this study is related to the strong influence of wind blowing along the coast of Korea and seasonal changes in ocean and tidal currents, suggesting that it may contribute to the continuous inflow of MPD from abroad [31,33]. In addition, some colonization of MPD by shell-forming macroinvertebrates may provide a route for transporting MPD into the water.
In this study, more species of attached macroinvertebrates were present on fishing/aquaculture MPD than on packaging MPD (Figure 4). This may be related to differences in MPD material and exposure in the ocean. Zettler et al. [34] stated that the core taxa of macrofaunal communities are affected by plastic materials. Li et al. [35] cultivated barnacles in seven plastic materials and glass, and revealed that barnacle recruitment was significantly greater in multiple plastics, with large surface roughness, than in glass materials. Oberbeckmann et al. [36] reported that soft materials, such as expanded polystyrene EPS, are important for biotic adhesion at sea. Therefore, it is thought that there are more species on fishing/aquaculture MPD because they have rough surfaces or are soft materials, unlike packaging MPD [37,38]. We suggest that another reason is the exposure time in the sea. Compared with fishing/aquaculture MPD, most packaging of land origin has a shorter duration in the sea. In this study, the time in the sea could not be confirmed for each MPD material, but bacteria, algae, and macroinvertebrate larvae adhere to objects introduced into the sea in that order [39,40], and it generally takes less than one day to recruit macroinvertebrate larvae (e.g., barnacles, bryozoans, hydroids) [41]. Additionally, it takes about two weeks for attached larvae of barnacles to grow to over the macrofaunal size (>1 mm) [42]. Therefore, in this study, most MPD with macroinvertebrates may have been exposed for more than two weeks. With plastic litter, a longer duration in the ocean leads to greater species recruitment and biodiversity [6]. The number of species was generally higher on fishing/aquaculture MPD with extensive erosion and microalgae. Fishing/aquaculture and packaging MPD were also distinguished in the cluster analysis. Therefore, species composition differs according to the exposure time in the sea.
On all MPD, M. galloprovincialis appeared most frequently (20.6%); it is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of the world’s 100 worst alien species [43], and was first recorded in Korea in 1936 [44]. In this study, M. galloprovincialis mainly occurred on MPD with long exposure times. Goose barnacles (genus Lepas) are also frequent organisms; these pelagic foundation species inhabit marine debris [18]. Lepas spp. attach to floating objects, such as buoys, plastic bottles, ropes, and trees [17,18]. They have hard shell plates, are highly predator-resistant [45], and gradually become dominant in an MPD community [14,32]. Lepas spp. are the dominant species on MPD in open waters [13,17,46]. Lepas spp. appeared frequently on buoys (fishing/aquaculture MPD), but not in the domestic rocky intertidal zone [47,48,49,50,51,52] (Table 5). Therefore, buoys with a high frequency of Lepas spp. are thought to have been exposed in the sea for a long time.

5. Conclusions

The high number of species and frequency of attached macroinvertebrates on fishing/aquaculture MPD suggests that attached macroinvertebrates are affected by the duration of exposure to the sea, and the characteristics of the MPD material. Fishing/aquaculture MPD can be exposed at sea for extended periods, leading to the attachment of various organisms and the appearance of alien species. Therefore, fishing/aquaculture MPD could be used to monitor MPD-attached organisms in the future.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, O.H.Y. and G.H.H.; methodology, G.H.H.; software, O.H.Y. and G.H.H.; validation, O.H.Y. and G.H.H.; formal analysis, G.H.H.; investigation, O.H.Y., G.H.H., S.L.K., S.M.K. and H.-G.L.; writing—original draft preparation, O.H.Y. and G.H.H.; writing—review and editing, O.H.Y. and G.H.H.; funding acquisition, O.H.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, PEA0014.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the project “Development of Technology for Impact Assessment of Marine Plastic Debris on Marine Ecosystem (PEA0014)” funded by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. MPD sampling sites along the southern coast of Korea (A: Bongrae Port at Yeongdo; B: Myeongji Port in the Nakdong River Estuary; C: Heungnam Beach at Geoje; D: Myodo Port at Gwangyang; E: Gohado Port at Mokpo; F: Naechi Beach at Shinan; G: Yongsu Port on Jeju Island; H: Sinyang Seopji Beach on Jeju Island).
Figure 1. MPD sampling sites along the southern coast of Korea (A: Bongrae Port at Yeongdo; B: Myeongji Port in the Nakdong River Estuary; C: Heungnam Beach at Geoje; D: Myodo Port at Gwangyang; E: Gohado Port at Mokpo; F: Naechi Beach at Shinan; G: Yongsu Port on Jeju Island; H: Sinyang Seopji Beach on Jeju Island).
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Figure 2. Field photos of each sampling site (a) Bongrae Port in Yeongdo; (b): Myeongji Port in Nakdong River Estuary; (c): Heungnam Beach in Geoje; (d): Myodo Port in Gwangyang; (e): Gohado Port in Mokpo; (f): Naechi Beach in Sinan; (g): Yongsu Port in Jeju Island; (h): Shinyang Seopji Beach in Jeju Island).
Figure 2. Field photos of each sampling site (a) Bongrae Port in Yeongdo; (b): Myeongji Port in Nakdong River Estuary; (c): Heungnam Beach in Geoje; (d): Myodo Port in Gwangyang; (e): Gohado Port in Mokpo; (f): Naechi Beach in Sinan; (g): Yongsu Port in Jeju Island; (h): Shinyang Seopji Beach in Jeju Island).
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Figure 3. MPD photographs with labels (a–c): foreign-originating MPD; (d–f): domestic MPD).
Figure 3. MPD photographs with labels (a–c): foreign-originating MPD; (d–f): domestic MPD).
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Figure 4. Total number of species of attached macroinvertebrates according to MPD material.
Figure 4. Total number of species of attached macroinvertebrates according to MPD material.
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Figure 5. Taxonomic composition of attached macroinvertebrates according to MPD material.
Figure 5. Taxonomic composition of attached macroinvertebrates according to MPD material.
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Figure 6. (a) Cluster analysis and (b) non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis using attached macroinvertebrate species presence/absence transformed data in domestic MPD.
Figure 6. (a) Cluster analysis and (b) non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis using attached macroinvertebrate species presence/absence transformed data in domestic MPD.
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Table
Table 1. MPD sampling sites with geographic position.
Table 1. MPD sampling sites with geographic position.
No.AreaSampling SiteLatitudeLongitude
1BusanBongrae Port35° 05.096129° 02.432
2Nakdong river estuaryMyeongji Port35° 06.412128° 55.758
3GeojeHeungnam Beach36° 57.657130° 43.049
4GwangyangMyodo Port34° 52.272127° 42.721
5MokpoGohado Port34° 45.934126° 22.373
6ShinanNaechi Beach34° 53.292126° 00.148
7Jeju IslandYongsu port33° 19.431126° 09.948
8Jeju IslandShinyang seopji beach33° 26.123126° 55.59
Table
Table 2. MPD material and the number of items collected in Korea (southern sea and Jeju Island) during the study.
Table 2. MPD material and the number of items collected in Korea (southern sea and Jeju Island) during the study.
MaterialDomestic (Items)Foreign-Origin (Items)Total Items
Plastic debrisFishing/Aquaculture
(Sea-originating MPD)		Buoy (EPS)/EPS debris31 31
Buoy (other)14822
Rope/String37 37
Net16 16
Fishing gear4 4
Mixed fishing gear6 6
Other fishing gear8 8
Packaging
(Land-originating MPD)		Vinyl/Bag of snack5 5
Gunny sack9 9
Plastic bottle16622
Plastic container11 11
Other packaging8 8
Other plastic16117
Total items18415199
Table
Table 3. Frequency of appearance of attached macroinvertebrates species (i.e., top five species) on all MPD in this study.
Table 3. Frequency of appearance of attached macroinvertebrates species (i.e., top five species) on all MPD in this study.
RankTaxaSpeciesFrequency of Appearance (%)
1BivalviaMytilus galloprovincialis20.6
2ThoracicaAmphibalanus improvisus15.1
3ThoracicaLepas anatifera10.6
4ThoracicaFistulobalanus albicostatus7.0
5ThoracicaLepas anserifera6.5
Table
Table 4. Frequency of appearance of attached macroinvertebrate species (i.e., top five species) in the three MPD materials with the largest number of species.
Table 4. Frequency of appearance of attached macroinvertebrate species (i.e., top five species) in the three MPD materials with the largest number of species.
RankTaxaSpeciesFrequency of Appearance (%)
Buoy (other)
1BivalviaMytilus galloprovincialis8.7
2ThoracicaFistulobalanus kondakovi6.5
3ThoracicaLepas anatifera6.5
4ThoracicaLepas anserifera6.1
5ThoracicaAmphibalanus improvisus5.4
Rope/String
1ThoracicaAmphibalanus improvisus6.1
2BivalviaMytilus galloprovincialis4.9
3BivalviaXenostrobus securis3.1
4ThoracicaFistulobalanus kondakovi2.5
5ThoracicaFistulobalanus albicostatus1.2
Net
1ThoracicaAmphibalanus improvisus3.8
2ThoracicaFistulobalanus albicostatus3.8
3BivalviaMytilus galloprovincialis3.8
4BivalviaXenostrobus atratus1.9
5BivalviaXenostrobus securis1.9
Table
Table 5. Dominant species of attached macroinvertebrates in Korean rocky intertidal zone.
Table 5. Dominant species of attached macroinvertebrates in Korean rocky intertidal zone.
YearAreaSampling SiteSampling SeasonTaxaDominant SpeciesReference
1993–1994Southern CoastChagwido (Jeju)All seasonsGastropodaNodilittorina exigua[48]
1998Southern CoastYeosuAll seasonsThoracicaChthamalus challengeri[52]
2000–2001Southern CoastSongacksan (Jeju)All seasonsGastropodaNodilittorina exigua[49]
2003–2004Western CoastUldolmok (Jindo)Spring, AutumnThoracicaChthamalus challengeri[50]
2009–2011Eastern CoastDokdoAll seasonsGastropodaCellana toreuma[47]
2011Eastern CoastUljuAll seasonsBivalviaMytilus edulis[51]
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MDPI and ACS Style

Han, G.H.; Kim, S.L.; Kang, S.M.; Lee, H.-G.; Yu, O.H. Attached Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Marine Plastic Debris from the Beach and Port Areas of the Southern Sea of Korea. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11, 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020252

AMA Style

Han GH, Kim SL, Kang SM, Lee H-G, Yu OH. Attached Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Marine Plastic Debris from the Beach and Port Areas of the Southern Sea of Korea. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2023; 11(2):252. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020252

Chicago/Turabian Style

Han, Gwan Hee, Sang Lyeol Kim, Su Min Kang, Hyung-Gon Lee, and Ok Hwan Yu. 2023. "Attached Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Marine Plastic Debris from the Beach and Port Areas of the Southern Sea of Korea" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 11, no. 2: 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020252

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