Plastic waste can promote microbial colonization by pathogens implicated in outbreaks of disease in the ocean. We assessed the influence of plastic waste on disease risk in 124,000 reef-building corals from 159 reefs in the Asia-Pacific region. The likelihood of disease increases from 4% to 89% when corals are in contact with plastic. Structurally complex corals are eight times more likely to be affected by plastic, suggesting that microhabitats for reef-associated organisms and valuable fisheries will be disproportionately affected.
Original Source [2]
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/plastic-waste-associated-disease-coral-reefs
[2] http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/460
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/joleah-b-lamb
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/bette-l-willis
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/evan-fiorenza-et-al
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/science
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/plastics
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/marine-pollution
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/marine-ecosystems
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/corals
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/asia
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/australia
[13] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/myanmar
[14] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/thailand
[15] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/indonesia