Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE, cilt.93, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
This study provides a comprehensive and standardized assessment of benthic marine litter along the Turkish Black Sea coast, based on 191 bottom trawl hauls conducted across three seasons and 69 stations following the standardized MEDITS/iBotS protocol. Sampling was performed along the southern Black Sea coast between I(center dot)gneada and Hopa, covering five distinct depth strata ranging from 0 to 125 m. Marine litter was classified into eight main categories and twenty-six subcategories. To analyze the drivers of litter distribution, a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was employed to examine the effects of latitude, longitude, depth, and seasonality. The mean benthic litter density was 639 +/- 54 items/km2, with plastics representing the dominant component (77 % of all items; 497 +/- 52 items/km2). Spatial patterns revealed pronounced heterogeneity, with litter densities ranging from 7.97 to 6272.54 items/km2 and eight accumulation hotspots exceeding 1000 items/km2. Six of these hotspots occurred in the Eastern Black Sea, a pattern influenced by the Rim Current and coastal eddies. Depth played a critical role in structuring benthic litter distribution. Litter abundance exhibited a distinct peak at 50-75 m. A Generalized Additive Model (GAM) revealed significant non-linear effects of latitude, longitude, and depth on benthic litter abundance, while seasonality showed no significant influence. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the benthic environment of the Black Sea is substantially impacted by plastic-dominated litter. The study underscores the value of bottom-trawl-based monitoring for detecting seafloor litter and highlights the potential role of commercial trawl fleets in removing accumulated litter.