Chapter Network Analysis of Marine Litter Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems

Abstract

There is an increase in reporting of marine litter in coastal ecosystems globally, especially in recent years. A literature review was carried out to identify the primary impacts and effects its presence may have on coastal ecosystems worldwide. Various search combinations in the search engine SCOPUS were performed considering 'impacts', 'effects', 'marine litter', 'marine debris', and 'coastal', for a total of 939 studies. Studies considered were published from 1974 to 2024 and an important increase in publications was observed over the last decade, especially for scientific articles. Next, search terms for three categories of predefined impacts and effects were used to identify the main research directions and emerging areas of interest within coastal marine litter research. Overall, this study highlights the focus and trends of current marine litter research globally.