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Soil C-N and microbial community were altered by polybutylene adipate terephthalate microplastics
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Researchers investigated how biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) microplastics affect soil carbon, nitrogen, and microbial communities in soils planted with soybean and maize. The study found that PBAT microplastics significantly altered dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen levels, increased microbial biomass, and shifted bacterial and fungal community composition, suggesting that even biodegradable microplastics may disrupt soil nutrient cycling in plant-specific ways.
The risks posed by biodegradable plastics to the plant-soil system have been increasingly studied due to potentially hazardous effects on soil properties and nutrient cycling. In this study, we investigated the effects of Poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics (PBAT-MPs) on soil carbon, nitrogen and microbial communities under different levels of contamination (0 % (control), 0.1 %, 0.2 %, 0.5 % and 1 %), in soils planted with soybean (Glycine max (Linn.) Merr.) and maize (Zea mays L.). The results showed that PBAT-MPs significantly altered soil dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen contents, and that these effects varied by plant type and growth stage (p < 0.05). PBAT-MPs significantly increased soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen for both plants (p < 0.05), except for microbial biomass nitrogen at the soybean flowering stage. PBAT-MPs altered the β-diversity and composition of bacterial and fungal communities, increasing the relative abundances of Proteobacteria but decreasing the relative abundances of Acidobacteriota for both plants. FAPROTAX analysis showed that PBAT-MPs had significant effects on functional bacterial groups related to the nitrogen and carbon cycle, that varied by plant type and growth stage. These results suggest that biodegradable microplastics may have plant-specific effects on soil microbial communities and microbial metabolism, and thereby influence soil carbon and nitrogen cycling.
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Researchers compared the effects of biodegradable PBAT microplastics and traditional LDPE microplastics on soil bacterial communities. The study found that PBAT significantly altered soil nutrient levels and bacterial community structure in a dose-dependent manner, with low additions increasing microbial richness while higher amounts reduced it. Evidence indicates that PBAT microplastics may disrupt soil carbon-nitrogen cycling and affect key processes like nitrogen fixation and phosphorus availability.
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Researchers investigated the effects of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) biodegradable microplastics on Arabidopsis thaliana and its root-associated microbiome, finding that PBAT-MPs at tested concentrations in agricultural soil caused negative impacts on plant growth and altered the composition of root-zone microbial communities.
Effect of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on the soil-soybean system: A perspective on rhizosphere microbial community and soil element cycling
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This study compared how conventional polyethylene microplastics and biodegradable alternatives (PBAT and PLA) affect soil bacteria and nutrient cycling in soybean fields. The biodegradable microplastics actually caused more harm to soybean growth than conventional ones, reducing shoot biomass by up to 34% and disrupting nitrogen availability in soil. This challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always better for the environment and raises questions about their impact on agricultural productivity and food security.
Effects of polyethylene and poly (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) contamination on soil respiration and carbon sequestration
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A field experiment found that both conventional LDPE and biodegradable PBAT microplastics altered soil respiration, organic carbon fractions, and carbon sequestration in soybean-planted soils, with effects varying by plastic type, size, and concentration.
Effect of biodegradable PBAT microplastics on the C and N accumulation of functional organic pools in tropical latosol
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Researchers investigated how biodegradable PBAT microplastics affect carbon and nitrogen storage in tropical soil and found that they significantly increased carbon in all major soil organic pools. The largest increase occurred in particulate organic matter, where PBAT debris was incorporated into the soil carbon pool, boosting total carbon by 116-191%. The study suggests that while biodegradable microplastics add carbon to soil, this may create a misleading picture of soil health since the carbon comes from plastic contamination rather than natural organic sources.
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