Coastal plants 'are under threat'

PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY CONDUCTS STUDY

- HERALD REPORTERS

TWO of the planet's more pressing environmental stressors have the potential to alter the growth and reproductive output of plants found right along the world's coastlines, a new study suggests.

The research, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, is one of the first to examine the combined effects of seawater flooding and microplastic pollution coastal plants.

It showed that both stressors had some effects on the species tested, with microplastics impacting the plants' reproduction while flooding caused greater tissue death.

However, being exposed to both microplastics and flooding together - a threat likely to increase as a result of climate change and plastic use had a more pronounced impact on their resource allocation.