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Emerging Risks of Microplastics to Soil Microbial Functions in Rural Agricultural Landscapes
Summary
This review paper pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic particles building up in farm soils are disrupting the microbes that keep soil healthy—these microbes normally break down organic matter, cycle nutrients, and keep soil fertile for growing food. When microplastics harm these microbial communities, it can weaken soil quality over time, which matters because healthy soil is the foundation for the food we eat and long-term farming sustainability.
Plastic particles less than 5 mm have become a prominent pollutant of the environment, especially in terrestrial ecologies, making microplastics a significant pollutant.Their deposition in soils leads to changes in the physical, chemical and biological makeup of the environment creating a great risk to the microbial populations of soils.This review is on the impact of microplastics on the soil microbes that are crucial in nutrient cycling, decomposing organic matter, and soil fertility.Microplastics affects the microbial diversity, abundance, decrease enzymatic activities, and alter their metabolic pathways.The microplastic particles also impair soil structure and aeration which in turn establishes poor environment on which microbes can thrive.The study of such interactions is important in determining the long-term effects on soil health and sustainability of the ecosystem.The critical importance of the development measures that could reduce the impact of microplastic pollution by preserving functionality of the microbial communities.