statement<\/a>. \u201cBut we can now say they are getting into the system, and at high enough levels they start to change the insect\u2019s energy balance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA tough little midge\u201d <\/p>\n
The experiment was partly inspired by earlier work that detected plastic fragments in Antarctic snow and seawater, which came from human activity in research bases and ships. Given their decomposer lifestyle, researchers wondered whether midges would also be exposed to microplastics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey cope with intense cold, drying out, high salt, big swings in temperature and UV radiation,\u201d explained Devlin. \u201cDoes that toughness protect them from a new stress like microplastics or does it make them vulnerable to something they\u2019ve never seen before?\u201d<\/p>\n
The project was done in two phases. First, at the lab, researchers exposed the midges to different amounts of microplastics for 10 days, tracking any changes in the insects\u2019 health. Surprisingly, the insects\u2019 metabolism didn\u2019t change all that much, and on the surface, \u201cthey seemed to be doing fine,\u201d Devlin said.<\/p>\n
The only time the midges actually consumed the microplastic beads was at the highest concentration levels, the paper added. Even then, survival rates didn\u2019t drop, although younger larvae in the experiment weren\u2019t able to reserve as much fat.<\/p>\n
Plastics in the South Pole <\/p>\n
Then, the team set out for field experiments in Antarctica, during which they collected midge larvae from 20 sites on 13 islands. Back at the lab, they dissected the larvae\u2014tiny creatures measuring about 0.2 inches (5 millimeters)\u2014and analyzed their gut contents for any plastic signals. Of the 40 larvae examined, the team found only two microplastic fragments.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur study suggests that, right now, microplastics are not flooding these soil communities,\u201d Devlin noted. But this should be an \u201cearly warning\u201d that microplastics are slowly infiltrating Antarctica, he said.<\/p>\n
That said, midges don\u2019t have any known land-based predators, meaning that any plastic they ingest is unlikely to spread throughout the food chain. It is also not known yet how microplastics will affect larvae in the long run, as environmental constraints placed limitations on how long the researchers\u2019 experiments could be, according to the paper. But there should be continued interest, Devlin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAntarctica gives us a simpler ecosystem to ask very focused questions,\u201d Devlin added. \u201cIf we pay attention now, we might learn lessons that apply far beyond the polar regions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related article<\/strong>: Tiny Robot Lost Under Antarctic Ice for 8 Months Comes Back With Rare Data<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To survive the bitter cold, Antarctica\u2019s native residents adorn themselves with thick layers of fat and fur. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[45260,11475,1097,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-627703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-antarctica","9":"tag-entomology","10":"tag-microplastics","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115704979996258346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}