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Combined effects of microplastics contamination and marine heatwaves on carbon cycling in coastal marine sediments
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Researchers conducted a 21-day manipulative experiment to test the combined effects of microplastic contamination and simulated marine heatwave conditions on carbon cycling in temperate coastal marine sediments, measuring changes in organic matter quantity, composition, and carbon degradation rates. They found that the simultaneous occurrence of microplastics and elevated temperatures produced distinct effects on sedimentary organic matter processing compared to either stressor alone.
Plastic pollution has become one of the most relevant anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment. Microplastics (MPs) pollution and global warming are usually considered and studies as separated threads, while in reality they are closely related. A significant manifestation of heat accumulation on Earth is represented by marine heatwaves (MHWs), which are positive and persistent sea surface temperature anomalies (SST). Previously, it has been documented that either MPs or MHWs have the potential to affect carbon cycling, but effects deriving from the contemporary occurrence of these phenomenon are still unknown. To fulfill this knowledge gap, we conducted a short-term manipulative experiment (21 days) on temperate coastal marine sediments. We tested for possible effects on sedimentary organic matter (OM) quantity, composition, and C degradation rates. We exposed sediments to 0.05 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559084/document
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Combined effects of microplastics contamination and marine heatwaves on carbon cycling in coastal marine sediments
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Researchers investigated the combined effects of microplastic contamination and marine heatwaves on carbon cycling processes in coastal marine sediments, examining how co-occurring stressors interact to alter microbial carbon processing. The study found that microplastics and elevated temperatures associated with marine heatwaves produced interactive effects on sediment carbon cycling, demonstrating that these two anthropogenic pressures cannot be adequately assessed in isolation.
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Researchers found that microplastics inhibited the thermal adaptation of river microbial communities during simulated heat waves, disrupting carbon metabolism processes and suggesting that combined microplastic pollution and climate warming may alter riverine carbon cycling.
Warming Modulates Microplastic Impacts on Coastal Nitrogen Cycling by Synergistically Amplifying Sediment Hypoxia and Restructuring the Denitrifying Microbiome
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Climate warming and microplastic pollution are converging stressors in coastal environments, but their combined effects on ocean chemistry were poorly understood. This microcosm study found that warming and microplastics interacted in complex, non-additive ways to disrupt nitrogen cycling in coastal sediments—sometimes amplifying each other's harmful effects and sometimes canceling them out, depending on the plastic type and the specific biological process. Most concerning, warming combined with both polyethylene and PBAT microplastics created more intense oxygen-depleted zones in sediments, which can trigger dead zones that suffocate marine life. These findings suggest that the ecological risks of microplastic pollution will worsen as oceans warm, complicating predictions based on either stressor studied alone.
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Researchers incubated intertidal sediment microcosms with polyethylene microplastics at two temperatures (25 and 30 degrees C) to examine how warming interacts with microplastics to alter microbial nitrogen cycling. Elevated temperature and microplastic concentrations disrupted key nitrogen-cycling functions, with metagenomic analysis revealing shifts in functional gene composition that could affect coastal nutrient dynamics.
Microplastics trigger sediment organic carbon pools stabilization pathways: Evidence from microbial mediated DOM turnover
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Lab sediment mixed with two types of plastic (polyethylene and polylactic acid) for 100 days released more carbon dioxide and methane and changed the sediment's dissolved organic matter and microbial communities. Aged polylactic acid caused the biggest changes, increasing sediment oxidation and altering bacterial, fungal and archaeal community networks involved in carbon breakdown.
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