ArticlePLoS biology2023
High concentrations of floating neustonic life in the plastic-rich North Pacific Garbage Patch.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- A neustonic hydrozoan Porpita porpita drifts for over a year.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Population genomics of a sailing siphonophore reveals genetic structure in the open ocean.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- A predictive framework for identifying source populations of non-native marine macroalgae:PeerJ · 2025Article
- Hotspots of Floating Plastic Particles across the North Pacific Ocean.Environmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Novel concept for the healthy population influencing factors.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- 2023 at PLOS Biology.PLoS biology · 2023Article
- Scratching the ocean surface: Researchers want to better understand the nature and dynamics of the abundant life living on and in the ocean's surface layers.EMBO reports · 2023Article
- Multiple ocean threats.Nature ecology & evolution · 2023Article
- Diverse sampling programs highlight pulses ofJournal of plankton researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Floating life (obligate neuston) is a core component of the ocean surface food web. However, only 1 region of high neustonic abundance is known so far, the Sargasso Sea in the Subtropical North Atlantic gyre, where floating life provides critical habitat structure and ecosystem services. Here, we hypothesize that floating life is also concentrated in other gyres with converging surface currents. To test this hypothesis, we collected samples through the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in the area of the North Pacific "Garbage Patch" (NPGP) known to accumulate floating anthropogenic debris. We found that densities of floating life were higher inside the central NPGP than on its periphery and that there was a positive relationship between neuston abundance and plastic abundance for 3 out of 5 neuston taxa, Velella, Porpita, and Janthina. This work has implications for the ecology of subtropical oceanic gyre ecosystems.
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