Plastic Pollution and Marine Conservation

Giuseppe Bonanno is a civil and environmental engineer at the University of Catania in Italy. He has a PhD in Plant Biology and Ecology. He is a university researcher and scientific communicator in his current role. Dr. Bonanno’s research interests range from biodiversity conservation to environmental education. His primary research involves terrestrial and marine biomonitoring, pollution related to heavy metals and plastic debris, and environmental management and conservation policies. Martina Orlando-Bonaca is a marine biologist with a degree from the University of Trieste in Italy, specifically from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in the Department of Algology. She received her PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Maribor in Slovenia. Her primary research interests include marine biology and ecology, macroalgae, marine seagrasses, coastal fish assemblages, benthic habitat types, benthic invertebrates, and environmental and ecological pollution assessments.

Preface by Giuseppe Suaria 1. Marine plastics: What’s wrong with them? Giuseppe Bonanno 2. Microplastics in seawater and sediments: Distribution and transport Mateja Grego, Manca Kovac Virsek and Oliver Bajt 3. Fate, transport and impact of plastic debris on plankton organisms Giuseppe Bonanno 4. Plastic impact on marine benthic organisms and food webs Valentina Pitacco, Martina Orlando-Bonaca and Carlo Giacomo Avio 5. Plastic impact on sharks and rays Lovrenc Lipej, Alessandro Acquavita, Nicola Bettoso and Francesco Cumani 6. Marine organisms as bioindicators of plastic pollution Martina Orlando-Bonaca, Carlo Giacomo Avio and Giuseppe Bonanno 7. Marine protected areas and plastic pollution Giuseppe Bonanno 8. Microplastics pollution: A thriller with many leading roles and an unknown ending Ana Rotter, Ernesta Grigalionyte-Bembic, Katja Klun and Rachel Tiller 9. Perspectives on marine plastics Giuseppe Bonanno