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Impact of Microplastic Pollution on the Structure and Function of Soil Fungal Communities
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Common types of plastic pollution—like those from packaging, bottles, and synthetic fabrics—can seep into soil and change its chemistry, altering the balance of nitrogen and other nutrients that plants need to grow. This study found that these changes also disrupt the fungal communities living in soil, which play a key role in breaking down organic matter and supporting healthy crops. Since soil health directly affects the food we grow, this research is an early warning sign that microplastic pollution could quietly undermine the ecosystems our food supply depends on.
As microplastic pollution intensifies, its impact on soil microbial communities has drawn widespread attention. This study treated soil samples with five microplastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to assess effects on soil properties. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze soil fungal community structure and functional diversity. Results showed that microplastic treatments significantly altered pH, total carbon (TC), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N), and available phosphorus (AP). Notably, all treatments reduced NO3−-N levels. Fungal community composition was affected, particularly Mortierellomycota and the genera Mortierella, Plectosphaerella, Pseudogymnoascus, Penicillium, Tuber, and Stachybotrys. Functional analysis revealed decreases in certain groups, especially Endophyte–Plant Saprotroph–Undefined Saprotroph and Endophyte–Plant Pathogen–Plant Saprotroph, in PE, PS, and PVC treatments. Mantel analysis further indicated that soil pH, NH4+-N, and NO3−-N significantly influenced fungal communities. These results highlight that microplastic pollution alters soil properties, thereby affecting fungal communities in a microplastic-type dependent manner, providing a theoretical basis for soil health management and pollution mitigation.
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Effect of microplastic pollution on selected physico-chemical and microbiological properties of soil and bacterial/fungal community composition
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Common farm plastics, like the sheeting and bags used to grow crops, break down into microplastics that build up in soil and change some of its properties, such as density and carbon content. While this study didn't test food safety directly, it's a reminder that plastics used in farming may be quietly altering the soil that grows our food.
Microplastics in Agroecosystems: Effects on Soil Microbiome, Nutrient Dynamics, and Fungal Interactions
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This review pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic particles building up in farm soil can throw off the natural processes that keep soil healthy—disrupting helpful microbes, weakening nutrient cycles like nitrogen fixation, and harming beneficial fungi that plants rely on. Since these disruptions can hurt crop growth and soil fertility, and since microplastics may work their way into the food we eat, this matters for both the food supply and potential long-term human health effects that scientists are still working to understand.
Microplastics in terrestrial ecosystem: Exploring the menace to the soil-plant-microbe interactions
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This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics affect the complex relationships between soil, plants, and soil microbes. Microplastics alter soil structure, change the makeup of microbial communities, and disrupt beneficial partnerships between plants and helpful fungi and bacteria. These disruptions can reduce plant growth and nutrient cycling, which could ultimately affect crop yields and the quality of food produced on microplastic-contaminated farmland.
Effects of microplastics on soil microorganisms and microbial functions in nutrients and carbon cycling – A review
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This review examines how microplastics in soil alter the communities of bacteria and fungi that are essential for recycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. Microplastics can increase certain beneficial bacteria but decrease others that are important for soil fertility, and they also carry toxic chemicals that further disrupt microbial life. The authors note that most studies are short-term lab experiments, and long-term field studies are needed to understand real-world impacts.
The Effect of Microplastics on Soil Microbial Activity, Biomass, and Microbial Community Structure in Three Types of Temperate Forest
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Scientists found that tiny plastic particles in forest soil can shift the balance of microorganisms living there, favoring bacteria over fungi and reducing the total amount of microbial life when the plastic pieces are especially small. Since these soil microbes play a key role in breaking down nutrients and keeping forest ecosystems healthy, this suggests that widespread microplastic pollution could quietly disrupt the natural systems that support clean soil, water, and the food chain we ultimately depend on.
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