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Applying diversity metrics to plastic litter ‘communities’: a first explorative and comparative analysis

  • Marine Litter: From Environmental Emergency to Potential Resource
  • Published:
Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this explorative study we applied a set of uni- and bi-variate diversity metrics (α-diversity, Whittaker β-diversity, γ-diversity, Whittaker plot) to two sampled ‘communities’ of anthropogenic beach litter. Meso-litter represented the ‘species’ with the highest number of items. Comparing the two sampled sites, we observed different values in total number of items, in α-, β- and γ-diversity and in the shape of Whittaker plot: we think that these results might have implication for assessing the impact of marine litter and the necessary operation measures aimed to its removal: (i) the higher is the amount of litter, the higher the effort in its removal, (ii) the higher is the α- and γ-diversity, the higher the number of tools and equipment to differentiate it, (iii) Shannon index, evenness and β-diversity provide interesting information on, respectively, diversity of sources, their frequency distribution and turnover, so implying different impacts on specific sensitive targets in different sites and the necessity of oriented operational actions. Moreover, the higher is the β-diversity, the higher the heterogeneity of litter with implication on a possible change of resources and equipment involved. Although we highlighted some caveat in the use and misuse of diversity metrics in beach litter management, we suggest further application of these indices to beach litter ‘communities’ to build a general conceptual framework in this sense.

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Acknowledgements

This study has been carried out in the surveys promoted during the Applied Ecology academic course 2016–2017 (Civil Engineer, Università degli studi Roma Tre). The students D. Aureli, R. Belloni, L. Calzecchi, C. Cinuzzi, F. Codemi, N.S. Cossa, C.O. Dabeanu, G. De Benedetti, M. De Finis, G. Finelli, C. Fornari, F. Franchi, V. Michele, V. Mustone, D. Nori, S. Polsinelli, A. Quattrocchi, G. Radocchia, M. Renna, R. Ruggieri, F. Sanacore, S. Santolamazza, M. Scalzo, A. Scamuffa, F. Scidone, G. Solfaroli, B. Tropeano, A. Vennarucci, M. Volpe all collaborated to the field sampling.

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Correspondence to Corrado Battisti.

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This paper is the peer-reviewed version of a contribution selected among those presented at the Conference on Marine Litter held at Accademia dei Lincei, Rome, on December 1, 2017, organized jointly with ENEA and Forum Plinianum.

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Battisti, C., Malavasi, M. & Poeta, G. Applying diversity metrics to plastic litter ‘communities’: a first explorative and comparative analysis. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 29, 811–815 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0737-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0737-0

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