Temporal variability of litter pollution of rivers in Germany - A long-term assessment by schoolchildren as citizen scientists.

Understanding litter dynamics on riversides is challenging due to the need for extensive data. A seven-year citizen science study with schoolchildren showed no major changes in litter density, composition, and sources on German riversides. The study categorized 26,757 macrolitter items (> 2.

Seabirds as biovectors in the transport of plastic debris across ecosystem borders: A case study from the Humboldt Current Upwelling System.

Seabirds have become biovectors of plastic pollutants between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and transport of plastics to their nesting sites becomes relevant due to increasing levels of pollution. To determine the pathways by which plastic reaches their colonies, we analysed the abundance of plastics at the nesting sites of five seabird species (Humboldt penguin Spheniscus humboldti, Peruvian booby Sula variegata, kelp gull Larus dominicanus, grey gull Leucophaeus modestus, Markham's storm-petrel Hydrobates markhami) nesting in northern Chile. Seabirds were primarily grouped according to their nesting behaviour, but two species foraging in contrasting habitats (kelp gull and Markham's storm-petrel) were also compared directly.

What potential does the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive have for reducing plastic pollution at coastlines and riversides? An evaluation based on citizen science data.

To address environmental pollution by plastic litter, the European Union adopted EU Directive 2019/904, the so called "Single-Use Plastics Directive" (SUPD), which bans several single-use plastic products and addresses additional items with measures such as extended producer responsibility and obligatory requirements for product redesign. This study assessed the potential of the SUPD to reduce litter pollution in the environment with three scenarios. The "best case" scenario assumed that all measures of the SUPD completely prevent targeted items from getting into the environment.

Spatio-temporal variability in the abundance and composition of beach litter and microplastics along the Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Abundance and composition of beach litter and microplastics (20-5000 μm, excluding fibres) were assessed in spring and autumn 2018 at various beaches along the Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. The beach litter survey followed the OSPAR guidelines, while microplastics were extracted from sediment samples using density separation and were then identified with Raman μ-spectroscopy. We observed seasonality in the abundance and composition, but not in the mass of beach litter.

Schoolchildren discover hotspots of floating plastic litter in rivers using a large-scale collaborative approach.

Rivers are an important transport route of anthropogenic litter from inland sources toward the sea. A collaborative (i.e.

Inter-hemispherical shoreline surveys of anthropogenic marine debris - A binational citizen science project with schoolchildren.

Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) is a global problem and the identification of its sources is essential for adequate mitigation strategies. Herein we examined whether AMD density and composition differed between two countries with contrasting socio-economic backgrounds and marine litter sources (i.e.

Plastic Pirates sample litter at rivers in Germany - Riverside litter and litter sources estimated by schoolchildren.

Rivers are an important source of marine anthropogenic litter, but the particular origins of riverine litter itself have not been well established. Here we used a citizen science approach where schoolchildren examined litter at riversides and identified possible sources at over 250 sampling spots along large and small rivers in Germany, during autumn 2016 and spring 2017. Litter densities have an overall median of 0.