IMIS - Marine Onderzoeksgroepen

Nitokra spinipes was exposed to Poly(lactic-co-glycolic-acid) microbeads (5µm) at 0, 0.1, and 1% of food content, at 22°C and +3°C (IPCC-SSP5-8.5). The obtained filtration rates, a proxy for energy assimilation (assuming constant assimilation efficiency), were used in an individual-based model implementation of the dynamic energy budget theory (DEB-IBM) to extrapolate population-level effects under a warming scenario. Our results indicate a reduction in filtration rates by PLA microplastics at +3°C, with 96-h EC50=0.029%, and the DEB-IBM model indicated a population-level EC50=0.0098% (95% confidential interval: 0.0095% - 0.0102%). Our results suggest that the combined exposure to elevated water temperatures and microplastics induces a decrease in energy assimilation on benthic copepods, with negative effects at population level.