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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Response of soil biochemical properties and ecosystem function to microplastics pollution
Clear[Effects of Polyethylene Microplastics on Soil Nutrients and Enzyme Activities].
Researchers studied how different concentrations and sizes of polyethylene microplastics affect soil chemistry and enzyme activity over four months. They found that smaller microplastics had a greater impact on soil nutrient cycling than larger ones, and that higher concentrations more significantly disrupted enzyme functions critical for soil health. The study indicates that microplastic pollution in agricultural soils could impair the biological processes that maintain soil fertility.
Inhibitory effect of microplastics on soil extracellular enzymatic activities by changing soil properties and direct adsorption: An investigation at the aggregate-fraction level
Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect the activity of soil enzymes over 150 days, examining responses across different soil aggregate sizes. They found that microplastics inhibited enzyme activities by altering soil properties, directly adsorbing enzymes, and competing with microorganisms for space. The study reveals that microplastic pollution can undermine key biological processes that maintain soil quality, with different soil aggregate fractions responding in distinct ways.
High‐density polyethylene microplastics in agricultural soil: Impact on microbes, enzymes, and carbon‐nitrogen ratio
Researchers assessed the impact of high-density polyethylene microplastics at various concentrations on agricultural soil over 60 days. The study found that microplastics caused non-uniform effects on microbial populations, reduced key enzyme activities through hydrogen bond formation with enzymes, and significantly altered the soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, suggesting potential long-term consequences for soil health.
Assessing Microplastic Contamination Effects on Soil Microbial Communities in Agricultural Land
This study sampled agricultural soils with varying degrees of microplastic contamination to assess effects on microbial diversity, abundance, and enzymatic activity, finding that higher microplastic concentrations reduced microbial diversity and suppressed nutrient-cycling enzyme activity.
Assessment of microplastic pollution on soil health and crop responses: Insights from dose-dependent pot experiments
Researchers combined field investigation and pot experiments to assess how microplastic contamination at different doses affects soil health indicators and crop growth performance. Field soils showed measurable microplastic contamination, and pot experiments demonstrated dose-dependent effects on soil enzyme activity, water retention, and plant growth metrics.
The impact of microplastics on soil ecosystems: A review
This review examines how microplastics accumulate in soil from sources like sewage sludge, agricultural plastic mulch, and wastewater, and how they affect soil ecosystems. Evidence indicates that microplastics alter soil physical and chemical properties, disrupt microbial communities and enzyme activity, and can harm plant growth and soil organisms. The authors highlight that soil microplastic pollution has received far less research attention compared to aquatic environments, despite its potential consequences for agriculture and food safety.
Polyethylene microplastics alter soil microbial community assembly and ecosystem multifunctionality
Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics at different concentrations affect soil microbial communities and overall ecosystem function in a maize growing system. They found that higher concentrations of microplastics shifted microbial community composition, reduced beneficial bacteria involved in nutrient cycling, and impaired multiple soil ecosystem functions simultaneously. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils can undermine the biological processes that support healthy crop growth.
Effects of microplastic pollution on agricultural soil and crops based on a global meta‐analysis
This meta-analysis examined data from studies worldwide to assess how microplastic pollution affects agricultural soil and crops. Researchers found that microplastics can alter soil properties including enzyme activity and nutrient availability, with effects varying by plastic type, concentration, and size. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in farmland may affect both soil health and crop growth in ways that depend heavily on local conditions.
Size and concentration-dependent effects of polyethylene microplastics on soil chemistry in a microcosm study
Researchers tested how polyethylene microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect soil chemistry in a controlled lab setting. They found that the smallest microplastic particles reduced the soil's ability to hold nutrients by nearly 13% and altered dissolved organic matter, while also leaching phthalate chemicals into the soil. The study suggests that as microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils, they could impair important soil functions related to nutrient retention and pollutant movement.
Impacts of microplastics on agroecosystem multifunctionality: From plant production to soil microbial diversity and functions
A laboratory study added three common types of microplastics — polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene — to maize-soil systems at varying concentrations and measured the cascading effects on crop health and soil ecology. All types of microplastics harmed maize growth and disrupted nutrient cycling, particularly reducing phosphorus availability, though low concentrations sometimes temporarily boosted soil microbial diversity. The findings warn that microplastic buildup in agricultural soils poses a real threat to food production and ecosystem health at the scale plastics are now accumulating.
Effects of polyethylene microplastics and heavy metals on soil-plant microbial dynamics
This study examined how polyethylene microplastics interact with heavy metals in soil and found that microplastics significantly reduced plant growth while altering soil enzyme activity and microbial communities. The combination of microplastics and heavy metals disrupted nutrient cycling in the soil in ways that were different from either pollutant alone. These findings suggest that microplastic contamination in agricultural soil could affect crop nutrition and food production.
Response of soil enzyme activities and bacterial communities to the accumulation of microplastics in an acid cropped soil
Researchers tested how polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride microplastics at different concentrations affect enzyme activity and bacterial communities in acidic agricultural soil. Both types of microplastics reduced the diversity of soil bacteria while stimulating certain enzymes related to nitrogen and phosphorus cycling. The findings suggest that microplastic accumulation in farmland may alter important soil biological processes, potentially affecting nutrient cycling and the breakdown of pollutants.
Microplastic Can Decrease Enzyme Activities and Microbes in Soil
In a laboratory experiment, adding microplastics to soil significantly reduced beneficial soil bacteria and the activity of key enzymes needed for nutrient cycling, with effects worsening at higher microplastic concentrations. Enzyme activities dropped by 32% to 50% depending on the enzyme type. This matters for human health because degraded soil biology means less productive farmland and potentially reduced nutritional quality of food crops grown in microplastic-contaminated soil.
Microplastics affect ecosystem multifunctionality: Increasing evidence from soil enzyme activities
This review examines how microplastics alter the activity of soil enzymes that are essential for nutrient cycling, decomposition, and carbon regulation. Biodegradable microplastics generally caused more pronounced effects than conventional plastics, and the changes in enzyme activity could ultimately affect soil fertility and the nutritional quality of crops grown for human consumption.
Integrated effects of residual plastic films on soil-rhizosphere microbe-plant ecosystem.
This pot experiment investigated how residual plastic film fragments of different sizes in agricultural soil affect soil properties, microbial enzyme activity, nutrient levels, and plant growth. Larger plastic residues caused greater disruption to soil health and reduced crop yield, suggesting that accumulated mulch film pollution poses a serious threat to long-term agricultural productivity.
Growth of grasses and forbs, nutrient concentration, and microbial activity in soil treated with microbeads
Researchers found that polyethylene and polystyrene microbeads in soil reduced plant biomass, altered microbial enzyme activity, and decreased nitrogen content, suggesting microplastics disrupt soil ecosystem functions across multiple nutrient cycling pathways.
Soil Biochemical Indicators to Monitor the Impact of Microplastics on Soil Functionality in Terrestrial Ecosystems
This paper reviews how soil biochemical indicators — including enzyme activities and microbial community metrics — can be used to assess the impact of microplastics on soil functioning. Because standard chemical analyses alone may miss functional changes, biochemical indicators provide a more sensitive early warning system for detecting microplastic-driven soil health degradation.
Effects of microplastics on soil physical, chemical and biological properties
This review examines how microplastics affect soil health, covering their impact on the physical structure, chemical composition, and biological communities of soil ecosystems. Microplastics can alter soil water retention, change nutrient cycling, and harm soil organisms from earthworms to microbes. Since agricultural soils are a major reservoir of microplastics, these changes could affect crop growth and food quality, creating an indirect pathway for microplastic-related harm to human health.
Microplastics regulate soil microbial activities: Evidence from catalase, dehydrogenase, and fluorescein diacetate hydrolase
This review examines how microplastics affect the activity of soil microorganisms, finding that results range widely from boosting to suppressing microbial function depending on the type, size, and age of the plastic, as well as soil conditions. Smaller nanoplastics can directly damage microbial cells, while larger microplastics alter soil chemistry and the toxicity of co-existing pollutants. Since soil microbes drive processes critical to agriculture and food production, these disruptions could have downstream effects on human food systems.
Soil microplastic characteristics and the effects on soil properties and biota: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Meta-analysis of 2,886 experimental groups found that microplastics significantly decreased soil bulk density and aggregate stability, indicating structural damage, while also reducing plant root biomass and soil phosphatase activity. Invertebrates were more sensitive to microplastics than other soil organisms, as particles can pass through nematode gut walls causing oxidative stress and altered gene expression.
Effects of plastic residues and microplastics on soil ecosystems: A global meta-analysis
Global meta-analysis of 6,223 observations found that plastic residues and microplastics decreased soil water movement by 14%, dissolved organic carbon by 10%, and total nitrogen by 7%, while reducing plant height by 13% and root biomass by 14%. Soil animal body mass and reproduction decreased by 5% and 11% respectively, though soil enzyme activity increased by 7-441%.
Size- and concentration-dependent effects of microplastics on soil aggregate formation and properties
This study tested how polyethylene microplastics of different sizes and amounts affect soil structure, finding that smaller particles cause more damage. As microplastics break down into smaller pieces over time, they increasingly disrupt soil aggregates, reduce water stability, and alter soil density. This matters for human health because degraded soil affects food production and can change how contaminants move through the environment.
Global meta-analysis reveals differential effects of microplastics on soil ecosystem
This meta-analysis pooled data from 114 studies to understand how microplastics affect soil ecosystems at different concentrations. Higher microplastic levels reduced soil organic matter and microbial activity, suggesting that increasing plastic pollution could degrade the soil that supports our food supply.
Microplastics in agroecosystems: A review of effects on soil biota and key soil functions
This review examines how microplastic and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils affects soil organisms and ecological functions. Researchers found that plastics enter farmland through multiple pathways including plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and irrigation water, and once present they alter soil properties and exhibit toxic behavior toward soil biota. The study identifies significant knowledge gaps about the long-term impacts of microplastic accumulation on agricultural productivity and food safety.