Abundance data of microlitter, including microplastics, were collected from riverine samples across the Orange-Senqu River basin in 2021. The dataset includes separate files for biota, sediment, and surface waters, alongside a file summarizing local watershed traits like population density and land use. It was published by the Marine Environmental Data & Information Network.
Use Cases
- Assess microplastic pollution levels in freshwater ecosystems based on separate abundance data for biota, sediment, and surface waters.
- Model the relationship between land use characteristics and microlitter concentration based on associated watershed trait data.
- Compare microplastic contamination across different environmental compartments (water, sediment, organisms) within a major river basin.
Strengths
- Data covers three distinct environmental compartments: biota, sediment, and surface waters.
- Includes associated land use and watershed trait data such as population density and rainfall.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the selected locations within the Orange-Senqu basin.
Provenance
- Source
- Marine Environmental Data & Information Network
- Collection Method
- Collected at selected locations across the Orange-Senqu River basin.
- Time Range
- 2021
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-11 08:12:13.812220; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Orange-Senqu River basin