BeachLog: A multiple uses and interactive beach picture.

There are some tools in place that classifies and/or rank beaches according to a series of parameters. It is possible to identify a gap in the development of tools that map and describe beaches without putting the results into a classification status of good or bad. Since beaches are important from different points of views such as ecology, tourism, economy, pollution or invasive species studies and management, fisheries, estate development, protected areas, among others it is relevant to describe and understand parameters in detail. This work offers a multi-purpose and interactive beach descriptor called BeachLog. It can be used by beachgoers to keep their own records in the same way a diver uses a Diver's LogBook, managers can use the tool to support coastal management projects, long-term monitoring, and beach description baseline. Also, BeachLog can be a didactic tool to aiming to bring environmental sciences closer to technology through the use of spreadsheets and dashboards. BeachLog is based on the more frequent parameters in the literature, selected, organized, accounted for, and altered/added according to expert opinion. We created a list of 28 parameters, all of which were described in details of what is expected to be observed by the user. They were divided into 5 groups (Environmental characteristics, Services & Infrastructure, Information & Security, Planning & Management, and Descriptive). Here, we describe 14 Brazilian beaches using the BeachLog by inputting the results as parameters presence or absence (0/1) and descriptives in a table that can be transformed into an interactive dashboard for better/easier visualization. Planning & Management was absent on all 14 beaches studied, pointing out the relevance and gaps in this group. In the other groups it was possible to observe variation in the parameter occurrence, indicating that each beach is different and it is important to observe parameters individually. Beach Litter and Invasive Species parameters from the Environmental characteristics group were present in all beaches. BeachLog showed as an easy way to describe a beach and can be a tool to support diagnosis and understanding of the beach's status.

Microplastic pollution in sediments of tropical shallow lakes.

Forty-eight tropical shallow lakes (depth ≤ 4 m) across a climatic gradient were assessed for microplastic (MPs; <5 mm) pollution based on MPs concentrations in archive samples from lake shore sediments. The MPs were classified by type (fragments or fibres), colour (yellow, black, red, green, blue, white, and transparent), size (0.55 to 4.93 mm), and polymer (polyester, polyethylene, chlorinated polyethylene, and polyamide). Sediments were predominantly medium sand, and all samples (144) contained MPs, consisting of 24 % fragments (6.3 ± 11.3 MPs·300 g-1) and 76 % fibres (21.25 ± 12.7 MPs·300 g-1). The lake climate (humid, transitional, or semi-arid), type of surrounding land use (urban, semi-arid, or rural), and distance from the shoreline (0, 5 or 10 m) did not explain the differences in MPs concentrations, partially refuting the initial hypothesis. The only significant difference was between the sample medians for the number of fragments based on the region (H = 7.586; p = 0.0481). The number of fragments in the lakes in the humid region was greater than that in the semi-arid region (p < 0.05). Poor sanitation, sewage effluents, and solid wastes reaching and accumulating in the lakes may be the primary and transversal conditioning factors for this small difference among diverse environments. Freshwater lakes are investigated in all continents, and the present study contributes to the first record of MPs in shallow lake sediments in eastern South America. The 48 shallow lakes assessed showed a relatively low concentration of MPs compared to other lake contaminants reported in the international literature. This information coincides with public policies issued, regarding the control and reduction of plastics and MPs in Brazil, and the study region.

Cigarette butts in beach litter: Snapshot of a summer holiday.

Cigarette butts are considered the most common form of personal litter around the world. It is estimated that 5.5 trillion cigarettes are consumed globally each year and that 4.95 trillion are discarded in some natural or anthropic environment around the world. This study evaluated the pollution of urban beaches in the Brazilian Northeast by cigarette butts in relation to other types of litter. Samplings were conducted in a month of high season (January 2016), at eight heavily used beaches. In the place with the highest concentration of users in each beach, a 200 m transect (3 m width) was established parallel to the water on the most recent strandline. All items >1 cm were counted and classified into categories according to composition (plastic, cigarette butts, wood, glass, metal, paper and organic, such as food leftovers and coconuts) using a standard worksheet. Cigarette butts were considered as an isolated category of litter. A total of 10,880 items was registered. The most abundant items were plastics (44.96%) and cigarette butts (38.36%). Among plastics, the most abundant items were straws, metallic food packaging, sticks (lollipop and popsicle) and cups. Plastic fragments were also abundant in all beaches evaluated, corresponding to 14.5% of the total plastics.