Experimental study of the formation of fouling on marine debris by microalgae

Which priority direction of science and technology corresponds to: rational nature management.

Research: fundamental.

Prospect for further execution: to be continued as a target fundamental.

Research level: no analogues in Ukraine.

Patent: no.

What additional actions require further research: The study of the processes of colonization of marine debris by aquatic organisms will be continued in order to develop a methodology for studying the stages of formation of biological fouling on various types of polyethylene in the course of experiments, identifying species settled on such material, and elucidating their participation in the destruction of plastic. 

Brief description, advantages, further prospects for application.

In the course of the project, the latest methods for studying successions on polymeric substrates were analyzed. The scientific significance of the results obtained lies in the study of the fundamental patterns of the formation of zoo- and phyto-revolutions on the substrate of anthropogenic origin. Identification of species involved in the processes of destruction and decay of marine debris (plastic) will contribute to the development of new generation polymeric materials and is a potential solution to the problem of pollution of the oceans with marine debris, which is of significant practical importance.

Understanding the processes of formation of groups on a virtually new type of anthropogenic substrate, the amount of which has increased very unexpectedly over the past decade, will demonstrate the nature of the interaction of aquatic organisms with pollution and the degree of impact on marine ecosystems.

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