Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Microbial Responses to an Urban–Suburban–Exurban Gradient in Forest Soils: Shifts in Community Structure and Membrane Lipid Composition

Not relevant to microplastics — this study examines how soil microbial communities and membrane lipid composition shift along an urban-to-rural gradient in China, driven by urbanization and soil depth; microplastics are not a focus of the research.

2026 Land
Article Tier 2

Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper reviews biodiversity gaps in high-altitude mountain soils, covering microorganisms, fungi, and invertebrates, and identifies major geographic and taxonomic blind spots in soil ecology research, with no connection to plastic pollution.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics on soil microbial assembly and ecosystem multifunctionality in the remote mountain: Altitude matters

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect soil microbial communities and ecosystem functions at different altitudes on Changbai Mountain in China. They found that the effects of microplastics varied significantly with altitude, enhancing bacterial diversity in some zones while disrupting key nutrient cycling processes in others. The study demonstrates that even remote mountain ecosystems are not immune to the ecological impacts of microplastic contamination.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Particle Size Distribution and Depth to Bedrock of Chinese Cultivated Soils: Implications for Soil Classification and Management

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it characterises particle size distribution and depth to bedrock in Chinese agricultural soils to inform soil classification and land management.

2023 Agronomy 7 citations
Article Tier 2

In-Depth Analysis of Soil Microbial Community Succession Model Construction under Microplastics Stress

This study examined how microplastics affect soil microbial communities in five different soil types in Northeast China, finding that the plastics altered microbial protein function and shifted community structure. Soils with higher organic matter showed stronger microbial responses to microplastic stress, with changes in how microbial communities assemble and regulate themselves. These shifts in soil microorganisms matter because healthy soil microbiomes are essential for growing food and maintaining the ecosystems that support human life.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial life-history trade-offs under biodegradable and conventional microplastics in cinnamon and lime concretion black soils

Researchers studied how two biodegradable and four conventional microplastics affect bacterial life-history trade-offs in two distinct Chinese soil types, finding that soil type and plastic type together shaped bacterial diversity, community composition, and functional profiles.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Spatio-temporal distribution of soil microbial communities and nutrient availability around a municipal solid waste landfill

Despite its title referencing soil microbial communities near a municipal solid waste landfill, this paper studies bacterial and fungal community composition in soils surrounding a landfill — not microplastic pollution. It examines how proximity to the landfill affects microbial diversity and nutrient cycling and is not directly relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterizing Microplastic Pollution and Microbial Community Status in Rice Paddy Soils Across Varied Environmental Settings in Songjiang, Shanghai: An Analysis of Morpho-Chemical Characteristics

Researchers characterized microplastic pollution and associated microbial communities in rice paddy soils, finding widespread microplastic contamination that correlated with shifts in soil bacterial diversity. Plastic-associated microbial communities differed from bulk soil communities, suggesting microplastics create distinct microbial niches in agricultural environments.

2024 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics indirectly affect soil respiration of different-aged forest by altering microbial communities and carbon metabolism

Researchers explored how microplastics affect soil respiration in forests of different ages by altering microbial community structure and carbon metabolism. The study found microplastic levels ranging from approximately 600 to 3,858 items per sample across forest ages, and that their presence indirectly influences soil carbon cycling processes.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The “neighbor avoidance effect” of microplastics on bacterial and fungal diversity and communities in different soil horizons

Researchers analyzed microbial communities on microplastic surfaces and in surrounding soil from agricultural fields in Beijing, China. They found that microplastics reduced bacterial and fungal diversity on their surfaces compared to nearby soil, while selectively enriching microbes involved in plastic biodegradation and increasing the relative abundance of pathways related to disease.

2021 Environmental Science and Ecotechnology 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Community and Enzyme Activity of Forest Plantation, Natural Forests, and Agricultural Land in Chilean Coastal Cordillera Soils

This paper is not relevant to microplastics; it investigates how converting native forests to plantations and cropland affects soil microbial communities and enzyme activity in Chile.

2023 Forests 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic effects on soil organic matter dynamics and bacterial communities under contrasting soil environments

Researchers compared microplastic effects on soil organic matter dynamics and bacterial communities across contrasting soil environments, finding that the type of microplastic polymer and soil conditions together determine whether microbial activity and carbon cycling are stimulated or suppressed.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics abundance associated with farmland use types and the impact on soil microbial communities: A case study in Southern China

Researchers surveyed microplastic contamination across orchard, paddy field, and vegetable field soils in Southern China and analyzed how it affected soil microbial communities. They found microplastic levels ranging widely across sites, with very small particles under 30 micrometers being most common, and identified 32 different polymer types. The study shows that farmland use type and agricultural practices like plastic mulching significantly influence both the amount and type of microplastic contamination in soils.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

The Spatiotemporal Successions of Bacterial and Fungal Plastisphere Communities and Their Effects on Microplastic Degradation in Soil Ecosystems

Researchers tracked how bacterial and fungal communities colonize microplastic surfaces in soil over time, finding that the surrounding soil type had the strongest influence on which microbes grew on the plastics. The microbial communities on microplastics were less diverse and less stable than those in the surrounding soil, but they attracted microbes with a higher capacity to break down organic carbon. The study suggests that microplastic surfaces become hotspots for carbon metabolism in soil ecosystems.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Edaphic Gradients Reshape Microbial Microenclaves Assembly within Plastispheres

Researchers sampled microplastics and surrounding soils at 27 urban wetland sites in China to study how bacteria colonize plastic surfaces, forming communities known as plastispheres. They found that plastispheres selectively recruit soil bacteria but harbor only 52-69% of the bacterial diversity found in adjacent soil. The study reveals that soil nutrient levels and moisture conditions strongly influence how these microplastic-associated microbial communities assemble.

2026 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

The microplastics distribution characteristics and their impact on soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities in food legumes farmland in northern China

Researchers surveyed farmland soil across five provinces in northern China and found microplastic contamination ranging from 1,600 to over 36,000 particles per kilogram of soil. Most of the microplastics were small fibers and fragments, primarily from agricultural plastic film and organic fertilizer use. The study found that microplastic presence altered soil properties and shifted bacterial community composition, suggesting these particles may affect soil health in food-growing regions.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Uniqueness and Dependence of Bacterial Communities on Microplastics: Comparison with Water, Sediment, and Soil

Researchers compared bacterial communities on microplastics with those in water, sediment, and soil in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, finding that microplastic-associated communities are unique in composition and ecological function compared to surrounding environments.

2021 Microbial Ecology 38 citations
Article Tier 2

The SpatiotemporalSuccessions of Bacterial and FungalPlastisphere Communities and Their Effects on Microplastic Degradationin Soil Ecosystems

Researchers explored spatiotemporal succession of bacterial and fungal plastisphere communities on three microplastic types across three soil types over multiple time periods, finding that colonization environment was the dominant driver of plastisphere microbiome assembly, followed by polymer type and incubation time.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Homogenization of bacterial plastisphere community in soil: a continental-scale microcosm study

Researchers conducted a large-scale study across 99 sites in China to examine how bacteria colonize microplastics in soil compared to surrounding soil communities. The study found that bacterial communities on polyethylene microplastics were much more uniform than those in the soil itself, suggesting that the consistent properties of plastic surfaces drive a standardized microbial community. Evidence indicates that soil pH, carbon content, and temperature all influence how different the plastic-associated bacteria are from nearby soil microbes.

2024 ISME Communications 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics increase soil microbial network complexity and trigger diversity-driven community assembly

Researchers found that microplastics in soil increased bacterial network complexity and shifted microbial community assembly in a diversity-dependent manner, with high-density polyethylene causing more harm to plant growth than polystyrene or polylactic acid particles.

2023 Environmental Pollution 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil pH has a stronger effect than arsenic content on shaping plastisphere bacterial communities in soil

Soil pH had a stronger influence than arsenic contamination on shaping the bacterial communities colonizing microplastic surfaces (plastisphere) in contaminated soils, highlighting pH as a key driver of plastisphere ecology.

2021 Environmental Pollution 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimizing Microbial Composition in Soil Macroaggregates Enhances Nitrogen Supply Through Long-Term Straw Return

Despite its title referencing soil nitrogen and straw return, this paper studies how long-term agricultural straw incorporation affects microbial communities and nitrogen cycling within soil aggregates — not microplastic pollution. It examines bacterial and fungal biodiversity changes in soil over 13 years and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Agronomy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Research on Soil Management and Conservation

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a brief editorial introduction to a journal special issue on soil management and conservation, with no substantive content about microplastic pollution.

2024 Soil Systems 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of forest planting patterns on the formation of soil organic carbon during litter lignocellulose degradation from a microbial perspective

Not relevant to microplastics — this study investigates how different urban forest planting patterns (broadleaf, coniferous, mixed) affect soil organic carbon formation through litter decomposition using metagenomics and metabolomics, without any connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 7 citations