Frontiers in Marine Science最新文献

{"title":"Comparison of genetic diversity and population structure of Saccostrea mordax lineages A, B, and C across South China Sea and Celebes Sea","authors":"Yinjie Zhang, Haitao Ma, Chenghui Han, Zhen Zhao, Zonglu Wei, Xixi Duan, Jiangwei Li, Yanping Qin, Jun Li, Ziniu Yu, Ying Pan, Yuehuan Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1593382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1593382","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:italic>Saccostrea mordax</jats:italic> is an ecologically important bivalve species and a potential genetic resource for oyster breeding that inhabit in the Indo-Western Pacific region, characterized by three distinct lineages: A, B, and C. However, limited information is available about its genetic variation and genetic structure. The present study was conducted to study genetic diversity and population structure of <jats:italic>S. mordax</jats:italic> lineages A, B, and C based on mitochondrial COI gene data across the South China Sea and Celebes Sea. The UPGMA phylogenetic tree among populations, BI phylogenetic tree among individuals and median network revealed three main clusters, corresponding to <jats:italic>S. mordax</jats:italic> lineages A, B, and C. The results of K2P sequence divergence, pairwise <jats:italic>Φ</jats:italic>st, gene flow and AMOVA indicated clear genetic differences among the lineages, combined with sympatric in all 7 geographical populations, these suggests lineages A and B are transitional periods of new species formation. Moreover, different patterns of population subdivision were found within lineages A, B and C. In lineage A, significant genetic differentiation was only observed between YM (Celebes Sea) and other populations (South China Sea), with a significant correlation between geographical distance and genetic distance among populations. In lineages B and C, there was no genetic differentiation between YM (Celebes Sea) and other populations (South China Sea), and no significant correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance among populations. The population history analyses indicated that populations of lineage A have experienced a recent sudden expansion, while populations of lineages B and C were large stable. These findings are essential for the conservation, sustainable utilization, and ecological restoration of <jats:italic>S. mordax</jats:italic>.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"98 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144183937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comprehensive assessment of chemical and microbial inducers for coral larval settlement across diverse coral species","authors":"Huiming Sun, Qingsong Yang, Junde Dong, Jie Li, Chang Chen, Xiaoyu Tang, Ying Zhang, Juan Ling","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1581753","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1581753","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionCoral restoration efforts increasingly focus on enhancing larval settlement and post-settlement survival. However, the species-specific efficacy of different settlement inducers remains inadequately understood, limiting optimization of restoration protocols.MethodsThis study systematically assessed the effectiveness of three settlement inducers—Crustose coralline algae (CCA), Chemical (CaCl<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>), and Microbial (<jats:italic>Metabacillus</jats:italic> sp. cB07)—across seven coral species, including both brooders and broadcast spawners. Larvae were exposed to gradient concentrations of each inducer to determine optimal concentrations and treatment durations. Effects on larval survivorship, metamorphosis, and settlement were measured. Post-settlement recruits treated with optimized procedures were further evaluated for metabolic rates, morphology, survival, and growth.ResultsOptimal inducer concentrations and treatment durations varied significantly among coral species, with CaCl<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> (10–60 mmol/L) and cB07 (3 × 10<jats:sup>6</jats:sup>–3 × 10<jats:sup>7</jats:sup> cfu/mL) showing broad-spectrum activity comparable to CCA. CCA induced the highest settlement rates (43.3%–93.3%) within 1–2 days, CaCl<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> showed moderate induction (23.3%–60.3%) within 0.5–4 days, and cB07 exhibited similar efficacy (26.7%–60.0%) within 2–4 days. Biological effects differed: CaCl<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> accelerated metamorphosis but lowered survival in sensitive species, while cB07 delayed metamorphosis and suppressed respiratory rates, indicating higher toxicity. Post-settlement, recruits induced by CCA and CaCl<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> had higher survival and calcification rates than those induced by cB07.DiscussionThese findings underscore the necessity of tailoring settlement inducer protocols to the species-specific life histories and physiological responses of corals. Integrating metabolic and ecological insights offers practical guidelines to enhance coral restoration success amid growing environmental pressures.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144184142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Status of global seafloor mapping effort and priority areas for future mapping","authors":"Yakufu Niyazi, Elin A. Thomas, Nicolas Pucino, Denise J. B. Swanborn, Heather A. Stewart, Alan J. Jamieson","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1543885","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1543885","url":null,"abstract":"Several global and regional initiatives exist to increase the proportion of seafloor mapped by direct measurements, brought together through international collaborations, of which the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project is perhaps the most well-known. Nearly halfway into the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, we used publicly available bathymetric and type-identifier datasets from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to systematically evaluate progress in the global seafloor mapping effort between 2019 and 2024. We explore each major ocean basin and sea, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and different depth zones. Proportionally, the North Atlantic (NAO) and North Pacific (NPO) have the highest mapping coverage, with over a third of each ocean mapped by the end of 2024. Nearly 30% of the seafloor in the Arctic Ocean (AO), South Atlantic Ocean (SAO), and Southern Ocean (SO) has been mapped by 2024. In contrast, the Indian Ocean (IO) remains the least mapped, with only 17.5% coverage. When considering mapping coverage by depth zones, approximately one-quarter of shallow areas (0–200 m) and the abyssal zone (3000–6000 m) have been mapped, comprising 6.3% and 68.4% of the global mapped seafloor area, respectively. Nearly 40% of seafloor in the upper (200–1000 m) and lower (1000–3000 m) bathyal zones has been mapped, corresponding to 5.6% and 17.7% of the global total mapped area. Although, the hadal zone (&amp;gt;6000 m) makes up only 1.0% of the global seafloor, it has the highest (55.6%) proportional mapping coverage, comprising up to 2.0% of global mapping effort. Evaluation of mapping coverage by sovereign states shows that progress is strongly influenced by EEZ size, economic status and the presence of offshore resources. This study reveals the uneven mapping efforts worldwide and suggests that more focus should be given to the two polar oceans, IO, and Southern Hemisphere in general, as well as the EEZs of African and Asian states, to reach the average global coverage. With the current average rate of new map generation of ∼3.2% of total seafloor area annually, we predict that the global seafloor could be mapped in approximately 20 years. Analysis of the seafloor mapping efforts in different depth zones of ocean basins, EEZs, and ABNJ provide future priority areas of exploration for the Seabed 2030 initiative.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144183936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining marine pollution governance from the perspective of international investment law: theoretical connection, development trends, and China’s experience","authors":"Xue Liu, Zhanyang Yu","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1617277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1617277","url":null,"abstract":"Global marine pollution demands effective governance measures, with international investment law playing a crucial role. This study explores ocean pollution governance through international investment law, focusing on two aspects. First, it examines environmental clauses in investment agreements and their influence on host countries’ environmental regulatory space. Second, it assesses China’s current marine environmental laws and governance practices, highlighting challenges like insufficient legal integration and unclear liability definitions. Findings indicate a shift towards “greening” international investment rules, emphasizing the importance of environmental provisions in managing marine pollution. However, earlier treaties often lacked comprehensive environmental clauses, restricting host nations’ regulatory capacities. Accordingly, it is necessary to strengthen multilateral cooperation and refine specific rule innovations. By leveraging investment-rule reform platforms to promote the implementation of marine environmental regulations, the negative impacts of ISDS can be mitigated, ultimately achieving a win-win between investment protection and marine environmental conservation.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144183976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification and characterization of a male-specific region in largemouth bass (Micropterus Salmoides) by whole-genome sequencing, resequencing and genomics comparison","authors":"Xinhui Zhang, Junjian Dong, Zhiqiang Ruan, Fengying Gao, Wenchuan Zhou, Xinxin You, Jieming Chen, Qiong Shi, Xing Ye, Chengfei Sun","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1586534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1586534","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionCompared to mammals and birds, sex-determining genes differ in most fish species. Largemouth bass (<jats:italic>Micropterus Salmoides</jats:italic>) is one of the most important cultured fish species in China, and there are growth differences between males and females. However, its sex-determining genes and mechanisms currently remain unknown.MethodsWe explored the sex-determination mechanism by integrating whole-genome sequencing, resequencing and comparative genomics approaches.ResultsIn this study, we employed HiFi and Hi-C sequencing technologies to construct a chromosome-level haplotypic genome assembly for male largemouth bass, with a genome size of 875.69 Mb. The assembled genome contains 23 chromosomes, covering 95.31% of the complete sequences with a high scaffold N50 of 35.93 Mb. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of sex was performed with four populations consisting of 62 males and 58 females. For the sex trait, a total of 3,838 SNP loci were identified to be significantly associated with sexual discrepancy. Interestingly, almost all these significant SNPs (3,825) were clustered on chromosome 10 (Chr10), within a 3.5-Mb sex-determination region (SDR). They were homozygous in females while heterozygous in males. We therefore speculate that largemouth bass owns a XX/XY sex determination system. By comparing genomics data and examining coverage depth of resequencing reads, we revealed a ~51-kb male-specific region (MSR) on Chr10. Gene annotation discovered a coding sequence (<jats:italic>msy</jats:italic>) within MSR-1, which may contribute to sex determination of largemouth bass. By differential expression analysis, two candidate sex-determining genes (<jats:italic>ccdc103</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>jockey</jats:italic>) were predicted within the target SDR. Moreover, we applied two male-specific non-coding fragments (within MSR-2 and MSR-3) to design specific sex markers, successfully obtaining universal gender identity in examined largemouth bass.DiscussionOverall, our findings improve our understanding of the molecular basis for sex determination in largemouth bass, which will thereby promote the mono-sexual breeding progress in the aquaculture industry.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144183934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating RANS and LES turbulence models in hybrid wave modelling of breaking waves","authors":"Chengzhao Zhang, Eugeny Buldakov","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1484783","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1484783","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the characteristics of breaking waves in deep and intermediate waters is crucial for air-sea interactions. Recent advancements in modelling these interactions have often relied on numerical wave tanks using Stokes waves, which may not fully represent real-world conditions. To address this gap, we developed a numerical wave tank to investigate the effects of different turbulence models on the performance of our numerical wave model in simulating breaking waves under more realistic wave conditions. A hybrid model that couples a Lagrangian wave model with a VOF model based on OpenFOAM is developed to simulate breaking wave groups resulting from dispersive focussing, with a spectrum related to a modelled sea state. The numerical results obtained through the hybrid wave model without turbulence models are validated against experimental data, demonstrating a high level of accuracy. Then, four turbulence models including RANS standard <jats:italic>k</jats:italic> − <jats:italic>ϵ</jats:italic>, RNG <jats:italic>k</jats:italic> − <jats:italic>ϵ</jats:italic> models, LES Smagorinsky and LES <jats:italic>k</jats:italic>-equation turbulence models are applied to the hybrid wave model with peak-focussed wide band Gaussian (GW) spectrum. The effects of turbulence models on the prediction of breaking crests, the energy dissipation due to breakers and the estimation of the breaking strength parameter <jats:italic>b</jats:italic> are investigated. The findings demonstrate that the turbulence models can significantly affect the numerical results for weak breaking cases. Notably, the hybrid wave model with the LES <jats:italic>k</jats:italic>-equation turbulence model showed superior performance. This proposed numerical wave tank can be a promising tool for investigating air-sea interactions in 3D simulations under more realistic wave conditions.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144165293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A lightweight YOLO network using temporal features for high-resolution sonar segmentation","authors":"Sen Gao, Wei Guo, Gaofei Xu, Ben Liu, Yu Sun, Bo Yuan","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1581794","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1581794","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionHigh-resolution sonar systems are critical for underwater robots to obtain precise environmental perception. However, the computational demands of processing sonar imagery in real-time pose significant challenges for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) operating in dynamic environments. Current segmentation methods often struggle to balance processing speed with accuracy.MethodsWe propose a novel YOLO-based segmentation framework featuring: (1) A lightweight backbone(ghostnet) network optimized for sonar imagery processing (2) A bypass BiLSTM network for temporal feature learning across consecutive frames. The system processes non-keyframes by predicting semantic vectors through the trained BiLSTM model, selectively skipping computational layers to enhance efficiency. The model was trained and evaluated on a high-resolution sonar dataset collected using an AUV-mounted Oculus MD750d multibeam forward-looking sonar in two distinct underwater environments.ResultsImplementation on Nvidia Jetson TX2 demonstrated significant performance improvements. (1) Processing latency reduced to 87.4 ms (keyframes) and 35.3 ms (non-keyframes)(2)Maintained competitive segmentation accuracy compared to conventional methods and achieved low latency.DiscussionThe proposed architecture successfully addresses the speed-accuracy trade-off in sonar image segmentation through its innovative temporal feature utilization and computational skipping mechanism. The significant latency reduction enables more responsive AUV navigation without compromising perception quality. The newly introduced dataset fills an important gap in high-resolution sonar benchmarking. Future work will focus on optimizing the keyframe selection algorithm and expanding the dataset to include more complex underwater scenarios.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144165480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A machine learning-based detection, classification, and quantification of marine litter along the central east coast of India","authors":"Mallela Pruthvi Raju, Subramanian Veerasingam, V. Suneel, Fahad Syed Asim, Hana Ahmed Khalil, Mark Chatting, P. Suneetha, P. Vethamony","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1604055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1604055","url":null,"abstract":"Globally, the growth of plastic production has increased exponentially from 1.5 million metric tons (Mt) in 1950 to 400.3 Mt in 2022, resulting in a substantial increase of marine litter along the coastal region. Presently, there is a growing interest in using an artificial intelligence (AI) based automatic and cost-effective approach to identify marine litter for clean-up processes. This study aims to understand the spatial distribution of marine litter along the central east coast of India using the conventional method and AI based object detection approach. From the field survey, a total of 4588 marine litter items could be identified, with an average of 1.147 ± 0.375 items/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>. Based on clean coast index, 37.5% of beaches were categorized as ‘dirty’ and 62.5% of beaches as ‘extremely dirty’. For the machine learning approach ‘You Only Look Once (YOLOv5)’ model was used to detect and classify various types of marine litter items. A total of 9714 images representing seven categories of marine litter (plastic, metal, glass, fabric, paper, processed wood, and rubber) were extracted from eight field videos recorded across diverse beach settings. The efficiency of the trained machine learning model was assessed using different metrices such as Recall, Precision, Mean average precision (mAP) and F1 score (a metric for forecast accuracy). The model achieved a F1 score of 0.797, mAP 0.5 of 0.95, and mAP@0.5-0.95 of 0.76, and these results show that YOLOv5 model could be used in conjunction with conventional marine litter monitoring, classification and detection to provide quick and accurate results.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"134 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of sediment contamination and benthic habitat response in mangrove ecosystems of Hainan Province","authors":"Fa Zheng, Zanhui Huang, Zeheng Chen, Jiahui Liu, Mingliang Zhou, Weipin Ding, Xiong Guo, Liang Chen, Zhaofan Wang, Yan Xu","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1542864","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1542864","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionChina's rapid economic growth has led to escalating environmental pollution, significantly impacting mangrove ecosystems. The persistence and response to pollution in mangrove ecosystems involve multiple processes, including the accumulation of contaminants in sediments, their transport in plants, and their accumulation in other organisms. However, comprehensive studies on the multidimensional interactions among these processes are limited.MethodsThis study investigated two mangrove forest areas in Hainan, which were categorized according to the type of mangrove forest cover: planted forests and natural forests. Thirty sampling sites were established to collect data on benthic organisms and their sediment characteristics.ResultsElemental As showed moderate, ongoing pollution. The distribution of species in the two regions showed significant population differences. The benthic population density in the natural forest was significantly lower than that in the planted forest, which was mainly due to the prevalence of Batillaria cumingi, and biodiversity indices and habitats in the natural forest were superior to those in the planted forest, which mainly depended on the degree of anthropogenic disturbance. Total phosphorus, nitrogen, dissolved solids, Hg, and sand grains were the most important variables.DiscussionTotal phosphorus and total nitrogen were the most important environmental factors affecting community composition, while total dissolved solids influenced overall changes in species composition, highlighting the significant influence of the type of mangrove cover on sediment pollution and environmental factors, leading to significant changes in the biomass and density of benthic organisms. This study emphasizes the complex interactions among sediment contamination, mangrove cover, and benthic communities, providing a three-dimensional view of the distribution patterns of mangrove contamination.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dual mobilization of buried microplastics and organic carbon driven by seagrass degradation: a case study from Swan Lake, China","authors":"Yuzhou Huang, Shuo Yu, Zhenming Zheng, Xi Xiao, Zuhao Zhu, Liangchao Deng, Huihua Wei, Jiani Liang, Shuilan Chen, Marianne Holmer","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1593776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1593776","url":null,"abstract":"Seagrass beds are significant sinks for microplastics. However, the degradation of seagrass beds poses significant challenges, and evidence regarding its impacts on microplastic sinks remains scarce. In this study, sediment cores were collected to investigate microplastic stock and composition, microplastic carbon, and organic carbon stock in <jats:italic>Zostera japonica</jats:italic> seagrass bed and adjacent degraded area in a lagoon Swan Lake, China. The microplastic stock in seagrass bed (84.5 ± 18.5 million particles ha<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup>) was found significantly higher than degraded area (51.8 ± 0.6 million particles ha<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup>), resulting in release of 38.7% of buried microplastics reactivated in water column. Similarly, 30.0% of the microplastic carbon stock and 66.1% of the total organic carbon stock were eroded due to seagrass degradation. The carbon stocks derived from microplastics were estimated at 0.19 ± 0.10 kg C ha<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> in the seagrass bed and 0.13 ± 0.11 kg C ha<jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> in the degraded area, contributing minimally to the total organic carbon stock (0.0023% and 0.0026%, respectively). Notably, seagrass degradation within a single year may trigger rapid erosion of organic carbon and microplastics buried for over 20 years in Swan Lake. A linear relationship was observed between sediment microplastic carbon and total organic carbon contents (Organic carbon = 1990 + 35100 × Microplastic carbon, R² = 0.26, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001). Microplastics in the sediments were predominantly fiber (48.1%), black (40.7%), 250–500 µm (47.0%) microplastics in degraded area, while plate (26.7%), blue and transparent, each contributing 26.7% and 125–250 µm (38.2%) in seagrass bed. Seagrass bed degradation may not only reduce the stock of microplastics in the sediments but also alter their composition. This study initially quantified the contribution of microplastics to organic carbon stocks in seagrass bed sediments and underscored the urgent need for seagrass conservation to mitigate climate change and prevent the remobilization of historically buried microplastics.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"98 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}