Matt Grosser Archives - Research Portal

Axworthy, J. B., Bates, E. H., Grosser, M. P., & Padilla-Gamiño, J. L. (2025). Effects of pollution on ecologically and economically important organisms of the Salish Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 219, Article 118322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118322.

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Abstract

Marine pollution threatens ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health, impacting species fitness, disrupting food webs, and degrading essential habitats. This review examines the effects of marine pollution on key species in the Salish Sea, a vital ecosystem supporting diverse wildlife, including endangered species, and local economies reliant on fishing, aquaculture, and tourism. In total, we synthesized 116 studies including chemical pollution (78), biological pollution (15), marine debris (15), and sound pollution (8). Research on marine chemical pollution has primarily focused on pollutants in fish (41), followed by studies on birds (11), mammals (7), and bivalves (7), then invertebrates (2). Future investigations should broaden species coverage, assess various life stages, and evaluate the impact of climate change on pollutant accumulation. Biological pollution, driven mainly by intentionally introduced species like farmed shellfish and salmon, threatens native species and can spread pathogens. There is a pressing need for research on the effects of fecal-borne pathogens on marine organisms and the influence of seagrass beds, fish farms, and sewage outfalls on pathogen dynamics. Marine debris, especially derelict fishing gear, negatively impacts local organisms, while the effects of tire reefs and microplastics remain poorly understood. Research should integrate laboratory and field assessments to analyze microplastic ingestion and improve detection technologies to inform conservation efforts. Noise pollution research has focused on marine mammals like killer whales, highlighting how sound pollution disrupts communication and behavior, which can indirectly alter food webs and community dynamics. Future studies should also encompass other marine species, including fish and invertebrates. Understanding pollution impacts is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies, protecting marine life, and ensuring sustainable ocean resource management for future generations.

Matt is a designer and researcher hailing from the Great South Bay of Long Island, New York. He is an interdisciplinary PhD student, and University of Washington MLA Graduate, whose practice has ranged from helping to oversee the design and implementation of New York City’s green infrastructure program to shoreline design and permitting throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Matt’s research focuses on how ecosystem-based infrastructural adaptation strategies can serve as a mechanism for stemming the impacts of climate change, with a specific interest in the role that critical ecologies and keystone species can play in resilience/adaptation design and planning. His work investigates how traditional and emerging ecologically-based infrastructural techniques could be improved and more broadly applied, as well as how the resultant socio-ecological bonds formed by the implementation of these strategies may elevate the role of ecological systems thinking for design and planning practices within the built environment.

When not pondering relationality within the web of life Matt can be found paddling around the waters of Seattle with his shiba inu Hideki.