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Microplastics in Freshwater Sediments Impact the Role of a Main Bioturbator in Ecosystem Functioning
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This study investigated how microplastics in freshwater sediments affect Tubifex worms, which are important bioturbators that mix and aerate sediment. Researchers found that microplastic contamination altered the worms' burrowing behavior and disrupted biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution could impair fundamental ecosystem functions by affecting the organisms that maintain healthy sediment environments.
While microplastic transport, fate, and effects have been a focus of studies globally, the consequences of their presence on ecosystem functioning have not received the same attention. With increasing evidence of the accumulation of microplastics at sediment-water interfaces there is a need to assess their impacts on ecosystem engineers, also known as bioturbators, which have direct and indirect effects on ecosystem health. This study investigated the impact of microplastics on the bioturbator Tubifex tubifex alongside any effects on the biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface. Bioturbators were exposed to four sediment microplastic concentrations: 0, 700, 7000, and 70000 particles kg-1 sediment dry weight. Though no mortality was present, a significant response to oxidative stress was detected in tubificid worms after exposure to medium microplastic concentration (7000 particles kg-1 sediment dry weight). This was accompanied by a reduction in worm bioturbation activities assessed by their ability to rework sediment and to stimulate exchange water fluxes at the sediment-water interface. Consequently, the contributions of tubificid worms on organic matter mineralization and nutrient fluxes were significantly reduced in the presence of microplastics. This study demonstrated that environmentally realistic microplastic concentrations had an impact on biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface by reducing the bioturbation activities of tubificid worms.
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This study found that Tubifex worms living in the sediments of an urban waterway had ingested microplastic particles, providing one of the first field-based (rather than lab-based) demonstrations of microplastic ingestion by freshwater invertebrates. The finding suggests that sediment-dwelling organisms are exposed to microplastics in real-world polluted environments.
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