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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics affect soil-plant system: Implications for rhizosphere biology and fitness of sage (Salvia officinalis L.)
ClearAged polyethylene microplastics modulate herbicide and antibiotic bioavailability and plant responses: A case study with glyphosate and tetracycline
Scientists found that tiny plastic particles commonly found in farm soil can stick to plant roots and change how plants absorb harmful chemicals like pesticides and antibiotics. The plastic pieces made plants more stressed and damaged, reducing important nutrients like chlorophyll by 30%. This matters because it could affect the safety and quality of the food we eat, since these plastic particles are becoming more common in agricultural areas where our crops are grown.
From the rhizosphere to plant fitness: Implications of microplastics soil pollution
Researchers exposed strawberry plants to low-density polyethylene microplastics in soil and found significant harm, including reduced chlorophyll levels, altered nutrient uptake, and increased stress responses. The microplastics also shifted the soil microbiome toward potentially harmful fungi and bacteria. These findings show that microplastics in agricultural soil can damage crop health and change the microbial community that plants depend on.
Microplastics from agricultural mulch films: a threat to growth promoting abilities of bacteria?
Researchers tested how microplastics shed from agricultural plastic mulch films affect soil bacteria that promote plant growth, finding that mulch-derived microplastics reduced the abundance and activity of key plant growth-promoting bacteria. The results suggest agricultural plastic use could undermine soil health and crop productivity.
Long-Term Fertilization History Alters Effects of Microplastics on Soil Properties, Microbial Communities, and Functions in Diverse Farmland Ecosystem
This study found that adding polyethylene microplastics to farm soil changed the soil's microbial communities, and the effects depended on the soil type and fertilization history. Soil with lower microbial diversity was more vulnerable to microplastic disruption, and microplastics increased the presence of disease-causing microorganisms. These findings matter because microplastics in agricultural soil could reduce soil health and potentially affect the safety of crops grown for human consumption.
Microplastics alter the equilibrium of plant-soil-microbial system: A meta-analysis
This meta-analysis pools data from multiple studies to show that microplastics disrupt the balance between plants, soil, and soil microbes. The effects vary depending on the type, size, and concentration of microplastics, suggesting that these tiny plastic particles can alter how nutrients cycle through the soil and ultimately affect the food we grow.
Microplastic: Evaluating the Impact on Soil-Microbes and Plant System
This review examines how microplastics affect soil microbial communities and plant systems in agricultural settings, documenting impacts on soil health, microbial diversity, and crop physiology. As microplastics accumulate in farmland soils through irrigation, sludge application, and plastic mulches, their effects on the soil ecosystem that underpins food production are a growing concern.
Microplastics in Mediterranean Agricultural Soils: Effects on Soil Properties, Metal Accumulation in Plants, and Implications for Sustainable Agroecosystems
Scientists found that tiny plastic particles in soil make it easier for toxic metals like lead and zinc to move into plants we might eat. Even small amounts of microplastics changed how metals behave in the soil, with some types of plastic causing up to 20% more metal absorption in plants. This matters because these contaminated plants could end up in our food supply, potentially increasing our exposure to harmful metals.
Microplastics in terrestrial ecosystem: Exploring the menace to the soil-plant-microbe interactions
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.
Microplastics Can Change Soil Properties and Affect Plant Performance
Researchers tested six different types of microplastics in soil and found that they altered key soil properties including water-holding capacity, bulk density, and microbial activity. These changes in soil structure had cascading effects on plant growth, with some microplastic types reducing above-ground biomass. The study demonstrates that microplastics can fundamentally change how soil functions, with consequences for plant health and ecosystem stability.
Microplastics affect the ecological stoichiometry of plant, soil and microbes in a greenhouse vegetable system
Researchers added polyethylene microplastics to greenhouse vegetable soil at different concentrations and found significant disruption to the balance of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the soil, soil microbes, and the plants themselves. Higher concentrations of microplastics altered the soil chemistry and shifted microbial communities, which could affect nutrient cycling and crop health. This matters for human health because microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil may impact the nutritional quality of the food we eat.
Effects of polyethylene microplastics on the microbial community structure of maize rhizosphere soil
Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics from agricultural films affect the microbial communities in crop root zones (rhizosphere), finding shifts in bacterial diversity and function. Disrupting soil microbiomes through microplastic contamination could have downstream effects on soil fertility and crop health.
Potential impacts of polyethylene microplastics and heavy metals on Bidens pilosa L. growth: Shifts in root-associated endophyte microbial communities
Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics in soil contaminated with heavy metals significantly stunted plant growth, reducing root length by nearly 49% and increasing harmful reactive oxygen species in plant tissues. The microplastics also shifted the soil's microbial communities toward stress-resistant species, demonstrating how plastic pollution can disrupt the soil ecosystem that supports our food supply.
Microplastics in plant-microbes-soil system: A review on recent studies
This review examined microplastic interactions within the plant-microbe-soil system, finding that microplastics affect soil physicochemical properties, alter microbial communities, and can be taken up by plants, with implications for food safety and ecosystem health.
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.
Development of an extraction and determination method for microplastics in compost and soil matrices
Scientists found tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) in compost and farm soil samples, with higher amounts in surface soil and areas with more organic matter. This matters because these microplastics can get into our food through crops grown in contaminated soil, potentially affecting human health. The study also showed that microplastics are everywhere in our environment - even floating in laboratory air - highlighting how widespread this pollution problem has become.
Soil microorganisms play an important role in the detrimental impact of biodegradable microplastics on plants
Researchers found that biodegradable microplastics harmed vegetable crop growth by disrupting the soil microbial community rather than through direct contact with the plants. When soil microorganisms were suppressed, the negative effects of the biodegradable microplastics on plant growth were also reduced. The study suggests that soil bacteria and fungi play a key role in mediating the harmful impacts of biodegradable plastics on agricultural crops.
Impact of microplastics on terrestrial ecosystems: A plant-centric perspective
This review focuses on how microplastics affect plants and soil health in agricultural settings, an area that has received less attention than marine microplastic pollution. The researchers describe how microplastics can alter soil structure, disrupt microbial communities, and enter plant tissues through unique transport mechanisms. The study highlights that agricultural soils are a major sink for microplastics, with potential consequences for food safety and crop productivity.
Response of soil biochemical properties and ecosystem function to microplastics pollution
This study found that polyethylene microplastics significantly disrupted soil health by reducing enzyme activity, lowering nutrient availability, and impairing overall ecosystem function. Smaller microplastics caused more damage than larger ones, and the effects were dose-dependent, suggesting that as microplastic pollution accumulates in agricultural soil, it could increasingly threaten the soil health that food production depends on.
Impact of Microplastics on Fagopyrum esculentum: Altered Soil and Plant Responses
**TLDR:** Scientists found that tiny plastic pieces from agricultural plastic coverings can harm buckwheat plants and reduce beneficial soil bacteria by up to 71% in just 50 days. This matters because these microplastics are building up in farm soils where our food is grown, potentially affecting crop health and the soil's ability to support plant growth. The study shows that even small amounts of common plastics can disrupt farming systems that produce our food supply.
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 microplastics on selected physical properties of agricultural soils and on the response of the selected terrestrial isopod
Scientists found that tiny plastic pieces from agricultural films change how soil holds and releases water, with some types increasing available water for plants by about 5%. These microplastics also affect soil creatures that help keep ecosystems healthy. This matters because these plastic particles could be changing how our food is grown and may eventually end up in the crops we eat.
Micro and nano-plastics on environmental health: a review on future thrust in agro-ecotoxicology management
This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect plant health, soil microbial communities, and agricultural productivity. The study highlights that plastic accumulation in agricultural soils can alter crop growth and yield while disrupting soil ecosystem dynamics, and calls for greater attention to agro-ecotoxicology management to address these emerging threats to food production.
Legacy effect of microplastics on plant–soil feedbacks
Researchers examined the legacy effects of microplastic contamination on plant-soil feedbacks using soil previously conditioned with various microplastic types, finding that residual microplastics altered soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling in ways that affected subsequent plant growth.
Polyethylene Microplastic Particles Alter the Nature, Bacterial Community and Metabolite Profile of Reed Rhizosphere Soils
Researchers found that polyethylene microplastic particles alter the bacterial community composition, soil environmental factors, and metabolite profiles of reed rhizosphere soils, with effects increasing at higher microplastic concentrations and showing distinct interactions with reed biomass.