Microplastics are changing the gut microbiomes of seabirds

Seabirds consuming high levels of plastic particles have a higher diversity of bacteria within their digestive system than seabirds consuming less plastic. However, it is not clear what this increased gut microbiota diversity means for seabirds.

Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to eating microplastics (fragments less than 5 mm wide) as they feed on the marine environment where these pollutants tend to collect. A study published this month found that there are approximately 2.3 million tonnes of microplastics floating in the ocean, and seabirds come into regular contact with plastic due to their long lifespans and extensive migration paths.

Gloria Fackelmann of the University of Trento, Italy, and her colleagues examined 58 wild petrels (Caronectris Borealis) and 27 wild Northern Fulmer (ice flumer). They also sorted out the stomach contents of each dead bird, carefully sifting out plastic particles.

“As the number of plastic particles increased, so did the diversity of the microbiome,” says Fackelmann.They found that birds that ingested the most microplastic pieces had more antibiotic resistance and plastic-degrading microbes in their gut. [microbe] Diversity, for better or worse, cannot make such a blanket statement,” she says.

Several zoonotic pathogens that can move between humans and animals were prevalent in the birds that consumed the most plastic.These birds also had reduced numbers of microorganisms associated with healthy individuals, including marine bacteria. PseudoalteromonasWhen microplastics are abundant in the gut, harmful bacteria Corynebacterium xerosis appeared to thrive. in humans, C. Xerosis It can cause heart inflammation, brain abscesses, and infections.

“This is a great study showing even more ‘hidden effects’ of plastics,” said Alex Bond of the British Museum of Natural History. “The next important step is to try to understand what this actually means for birds and the ecosystems in which they live.”