The influence of small human settlements on beach marine litter

Abstract

The influence of small human settlements on the distribution of marine litter is not well known. We investigated the potential contribution of such settlements on the distribution of the abundance and richness of macro litter (>1 cm) along a beach stretch in the northeast coast of Brazilian. In order to investigate if the garbage would increase near coastal villages, we collected stranded marine litter in 45 transects, along 8.1 km of the beach stretch, including the ocean front of two small human settlements (Siribinha and Poças). We used a generalized additive model (GAM) and found greater waste richness in Siribinha and between Siribinha and Poças. No clear variation trend was evidenced in the amount of marine litter along the sampling sites. This indicate an unsystematic pattern of the distribution of litter near small villages, opposing to patterns observed in large urban centers. Therefore, litter produced far away may be a worse problem, then local litter, in remote coastal areas.