Single-use plastic litter is the main component of marine litter worldwide. In the present study, the impact of discarded single-use garbage bags is experimentally evaluated on density, diversity, community structure and vertical distribution of the upper intertidal free living nematode community. Our results showed that the presence of garbage bags on intertidal sediment sharply decreased total and vertical nematode densities and diversity indices as well as decreased sediment oxygen redox potential, and altered total and vertical nematode communities. However, covering sediment with garbage bags did not result in complete nematode mortality. At the end of the experiment, epigrowth feeders and facultative predator nematodes disappeared and the community was dominated by deposit feeder genera. Considering that single-use plastic litter is in intertidal ecosystems, any change in the density and biomass of benthic fauna could lead to a decrease in benthic secondary production and food shortage for their predators. |
