Publications by authors named "S Lavorano"
Awareness of plastic pollution in marine habitats, such as coral reefs, has grown in recent years. Several studies have shown that tiny particles resulting from plastic breakdown, especially microplastics, can potentially harm corals. However, to date, there is very little evidence regarding the impact that nanoplastics (<1 μm) can have on the physiology and health of corals, particularly soft corals.
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- Microplastic pollution threatens coral reefs, which are already struggling with climate change, particularly heat stress, but the impact of microplastics on coral health is not well understood.
- In a study on Pocillopora damicornis, corals were exposed to varying concentrations of polyethylene microplastic beads and temperatures, revealing ingestion and egestion but no immediate visual stress responses.
- The findings showed that while heat stress is the main concern for coral health, microplastics could compound the negative effects of thermal stress, suggesting the need for better management of ocean temperature to protect coral ecosystems.
Massive coral bleaching episodes induced by thermal stress are one of the first causes of coral death worldwide. Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been identified as one of the potential causes of symbiosis breakdown between polyps and algae in corals during extreme heat wave events. Here, we propose a new strategy for mitigating heat effects by delivering underwater an antioxidant to the corals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study is to investigate for the first time the uptake and ecotoxicological effects of nanoplastics (NPs) in a marine cnidarian. Ephyrae of the moon jellyfish Aurelia sp. of different ages (0 and 7 days old) were exposed to negatively charged polystyrene NPs for 24 h; then, the uptake was assessed through traditional and novel techniques, namely microscopy and three-dimensional (3D) holotomography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrent information regarding the effects of both micro- and nano-plastic debris on coral reefs is limited; especially the toxicity onto corals from nano-plastics originating from secondary sources such as fibers from synthetic fabrics. Within this study, we exposed the alcyonacean coral Pinnigorgia flava to different concentrations of polypropylene secondary nanofibers (0.001, 0.
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