Abstract：
Plastic litter is a pollutant of aquatic environments worldwide, with some of the world\'s highest litter densities occurring in freshwater ecosystems. Little information about the risk that plastic litter poses to aquatic wildlife is available across the world\'s most polluted waterways. To help assess the risk to aquatic species where empirical data is lacking, our review presents i) a risk assessment methodology for predicting plastic litter impacts on aquatic wildlife in data poor environments, ii) a case study demonstrating this risk assessment methodology for wildlife across two heavily polluted river basins in Asia, the Mekong and Ganges River Basins; and iii) a broad review summarising common trends in litter interactions and risk to freshwater fish, aquatic birds, cetaceans and raptors. This risk analysis unites a systematic review approach with risk matrices following International Standards Organization\'s risk assessment criteria, evaluating the risk of plastic entanglement and ingestion and the potential for harm to the animal. In the Mekong and Ganges River Basins, we found that the risk of litter entanglement is higher than litter ingestion. Four species were forecast to be at high risk of entanglement: Ganges River dolphin, Gharial, Mekong giant catfish and Irrawaddy dolphin. The eastern imperial eagle and greater spotted eagle were noted to be at moderate risk of entanglement. Both the Ganges River dolphin and Irrawaddy dolphin were predicted to have a moderate risk of plastic ingestion. Interestingly, cranes, waterfowl and wading birds were deemed at low or negligible risk from plastic litter. This risk matrix methodology can be applied to other waterways and taxa to assess the risk posed by plastic. It can also be readily updated as more information becomes available. This review enables decision makers to bridge a data gap by providing a tool for conservation and management before comprehensive empirical data is available.
摘要：
塑料垃圾是全球水生环境的污染物，一些世界上最高的凋落物密度发生在淡水生态系统中。世界上污染最严重的水道几乎没有关于塑料垃圾对水生野生动物构成的风险的信息。为了帮助评估缺乏经验数据的水生物种的风险，我们的综述提出了i)一种风险评估方法，用于预测数据恶劣环境中塑料垃圾对水生野生动物的影响，ii）一个案例研究，证明了这种对亚洲两个严重污染的流域的野生动植物的风险评估方法，湄公河和恒河流域；iii）广泛审查，总结垃圾相互作用和淡水鱼风险的共同趋势，水生鸟类,鲸目动物和猛禽.本风险分析将系统审查方法与遵循国际标准组织风险评估标准的风险矩阵相结合，评估塑料缠绕和摄入的风险以及对动物的潜在伤害。在湄公河和恒河流域，我们发现垃圾缠结的风险高于摄入垃圾。预测有四种物种处于纠缠的高风险中：恒河海豚，Gharial,湄公河巨型鲶鱼和伊洛瓦底江海豚。注意到东部的帝国鹰和更大的斑点鹰处于中等的纠缠风险。恒河海豚和伊洛瓦底江海豚都被预测具有适度的塑料摄入风险。有趣的是,起重机,水禽和涉水鸟被认为受到塑料垃圾的风险很低或可以忽略不计。这种风险矩阵方法可以应用于其他水道和分类单元，以评估塑料带来的风险。随着更多的信息变得可用，它也可以很容易地更新。这项审查使决策者能够在获得全面的经验数据之前，通过提供保护和管理的工具来弥合数据差距。
