A review of peer-reviewed publications was undertaken, focusing on coastal and marine microplastics relevant to South Eastern Australia (South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales), as well as from ongoing citizen science programmes from AUSMAP. This dataset summarises basic information about the microplastics studies: the location of the study; if the study focused on water, sediment or biota; the type of biota (for biotic studies); and the DOI of the publication. Although the primary focus of this study was restricted to southeastern Australia, studies collated from other regions have also been included in this dataset. The outcomes of the literature review for other regions (QLD, NT, SA, WA, Tas) should not be considered comprehensive.

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Advancing national standards and best practices to monitor key marine values and pressures". No data outputs are expected to be generated by this project. -------------------- This project aims to advance the establishment and use of national standards and best practices to monitor the condition status of priority values and pressures of Australia’s marine estate. It will build on the national standards and best practice process developed in the previous NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub to produce three new national standards for monitoring (drop cameras, socioeconomic surveys of marine users, marine microplastics). A practical implementation plan will be developed to embed the application of standards, with particular attention to inclusive and diverse approaches (e.g. engagement of community groups and Indigenous partnerships). The plan will set out a future path to develop, maintain and make available national standards; increase their uptake; and assess effectiveness and impact as related to the delivery of priority monitoring activities. Outputs • Workshop and questionnaire report gauging the needs of scientists, Indigenous communities, and marine managers [written] • Scientific publication on marine best practice development [written] • New national standards for (1) drop cameras; (2) socioeconomic surveys; and (3) microplastics studies [written] • Implementation plan (final report) [written] ---no data outputs will be generated by this project---

We performed a 5-week experiment in controlled laboratory settings to investigate the effects of different types of microparticles (i.e., PVC/red clay) on the performance of the Mediterranean mussel. Several response variables including respiration rate, byssus production, body condition index and survival were collected. Our study's main purpose is to examine effects of synthetic microparticles on bivalves using a more relevant methodological approach, i.e., in comparison to naturally-occurring particles, since these filter-feeders are exposed to not just microplastics in the real-world environment, but also to various naturally suspended seston particles, such as detritus and sediments.