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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Drought Alleviates the Negative Effects of Microplastics on Soil Micro-Food Web Complexity and Stability
ClearInteractive effects of drought and microplastic particle size on soil bacterial community structure
Scientists found that tiny plastic particles in soil become more harmful to the beneficial bacteria that keep soil healthy when combined with drought conditions. The smallest plastic particles caused the most damage, reducing the diversity of helpful soil bacteria by up to 29% during dry conditions. This matters because healthy soil bacteria are essential for growing nutritious food, and climate change is making both plastic pollution and droughts more common worldwide.
Effects of microplastics and drought on soil ecosystem functions and multifunctionality
Researchers tested how microplastic fibers and drought conditions interact to affect soil ecosystem functions in grassland plant communities. The study found that the combination of microplastics and drought negatively impacted nutrient cycling enzymes, soil respiration, and overall ecosystem multifunctionality, suggesting that microplastics may worsen the well-known damaging effects of drought on soil systems.
Rhizosphere microbial activities in response to combined effects of drought and microplastic
Researchers studied how combined drought stress and microplastic contamination affect rhizosphere microbial activities, finding that microplastics exacerbated drought-induced suppression of soil enzyme activities and altered microbial community structure around plant roots.
Microplastic fibres affect soil fungal communities depending on drought conditions with consequences for ecosystem functions
Researchers found that microplastic fibers affect soil fungal communities differently depending on whether the soil is well-watered or drought-stressed. Under normal moisture, microplastics reduced fungal diversity, but during drought they actually increased fungal richness, suggesting that the environmental impact of microplastics on soil ecosystems depends heavily on climate conditions.
Independent and combined effects of microplastics pollution and drought on soil bacterial community
Researchers studied how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics, combined with drought conditions, affect soil bacteria. Very small (20 micrometer) biodegradable PLA microplastics significantly reduced bacterial diversity by over 17%, while conventional polyethylene had less impact. The results suggest that the combined stress of microplastic pollution and drought could meaningfully alter soil microbial communities that are essential for healthy ecosystems and agriculture.
Effects of Microplastic Fibers and Drought on Plant Communities
Researchers added microplastic fibers to plant communities and applied drought stress, finding that microfibers reduced total community productivity and shifted species composition, with combined microplastic-drought stress causing greater harm than either factor alone.
Microplastics reduce soil microbial network complexity and ecological deterministic selection
Researchers found that microplastics reduce soil microbial network complexity and shift community assembly from deterministic to more stochastic processes, suggesting that microplastic pollution may fundamentally alter microbial ecological interactions in terrestrial systems.
Drought limits microplastic effects on soil greenhouse gas emissions by reducing microbial diversity
Researchers examined how microplastics and drought stress interact to affect greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils. They found that biodegradable microplastics increased nitrous oxide production compared to conventional polyethylene, but drought conditions consistently suppressed overall greenhouse gas output by reducing microbial diversity. The study highlights the complex interplay between plastic pollution and climate stress in shaping soil emissions and nutrient cycling.
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.
Biodegradable microplastics enhance soil microbial network complexity and ecological stochasticity
Researchers found that biodegradable microplastics increased soil microbial network complexity and shifted community assembly toward more stochastic processes, suggesting they reshape soil ecosystems differently than conventional plastics.
Microplastic and drought influence the positive effect of plant diversity on plant biomass production
Researchers conducted a glasshouse experiment examining how microplastic pollution interacts with drought to affect plant biomass production across a gradient of plant diversity, finding that microplastics influenced the positive biodiversity-productivity relationship. The study reveals that microplastic pollution is a novel stressor that interacts with drought to affect terrestrial ecosystem functionality in ways not predictable from single-factor experiments.
Disentangling microplastics effects on soil structure, microbial activity and greenhouse gas emissions
Researchers studied how microplastics affect soil structure, microbial activity, and greenhouse gas emissions, finding complex interactions that depend on microplastic type and concentration. The presence of microplastics in soils can alter the biological processes that regulate carbon storage and nutrient cycling.
Effect of microfibers combined with UV-B and drought on plant community
Researchers studied how microfiber contamination in soil interacted with ultraviolet-B radiation and drought to affect plant communities in a controlled experiment. The combination of microfibers, UV-B radiation, and drought stress caused greater reductions in plant diversity and productivity than any single factor alone. This study highlights how microplastic pollution interacts with other environmental stressors linked to climate change to damage terrestrial ecosystems.
Microplastics negatively affect soil fauna but stimulate microbial activity: insights from a field-based microplastic addition experiment
A meta-analysis of microplastic studies found that microplastics negatively affect soil fauna abundance and diversity while stimulating soil microbial activity, based on data from multiple laboratory experiments. The opposing effects on fauna and microbes suggest that microplastics can shift soil community structure in ways that alter ecosystem functions like decomposition and nutrient cycling.
Microplastic and drought influence the positive effect of plant diversity on plant biomass production
Researchers found that microplastic pollution and drought stress each reduced the positive effect of plant diversity on biomass production, with their combined presence further weakening this relationship in a glasshouse experiment across plant communities of varying diversity.
Microbes drive metabolism, community diversity, and interactions in response to microplastic-induced nutrient imbalance
Researchers investigated how conventional and biodegradable microplastics alter soil nutrient balances and the resulting effects on microbial metabolism, community diversity, and species interactions. The study found that microplastic-induced nutrient imbalances significantly influenced soil microbial processes, with different types of microplastics producing distinct effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling.
Effects of plastic fragments on plant performance are mediated by soil properties and drought
Researchers found that plastic fragments reduced soil water content and negatively affected Arabidopsis thaliana growth, with effects most pronounced under drought conditions and dependent on soil texture, suggesting plastic pollution and water stress interact to compound harm to plants.
Microplastics Have Widely Varying Effects on Soil
Researchers found that microplastic concentrations as low as 0.4% alter soil drainage, with potential downstream consequences for crop growth and plant productivity.
Concentration-Dependent Impacts of Microplastics on Soil Nematode Community in Bulk Soils of Maize: Evidence From a Pot Experiment
Researchers found that polypropylene microplastics altered soil nematode community composition in a concentration-dependent manner, reducing bacterivore abundance and shifting the soil food web structure, indicating disrupted soil ecological functioning in agricultural settings.
Cascading effects from soil to maize functional traits explain maize response to microplastics disturbance in multi-nutrient soil environment
Researchers found that microplastics in agricultural soil can dry out the soil and disrupt nutrient availability for maize plants, but the crop partially compensates by growing longer, more efficient roots to forage for nutrients. This adaptive response — more pronounced in nutrient-rich soils — means microplastic impacts on crop yields depend heavily on soil conditions, complicating efforts to predict food security risks from plastic pollution.
Meta-analysis reveals differential impacts of microplastics on soil biota
Soil microplastic contamination ranged from 0.34 to over 410,000 items/kg across sites, and their presence significantly increased mortality rates and decreased individual numbers, diversity, and reproduction of soil organisms, though biomass was unaffected due to opposing effects on different organism groups.
Soil under stress: The importance of soil life and how it is influenced by (micro)plastic pollution
This review examines how plastic pollution in soil disrupts soil organisms and microorganisms that regulate essential ecosystem functions, finding that plastic alters soil chemistry, physical structure, and microbial communities in ways that threaten primary production and carbon cycling.
Microplastic residues in wetland ecosystems: Do they truly threaten the plant-microbe-soil system?
Researchers used a controlled pot experiment to assess microplastic effects on wetland plant growth, soil microbial communities, and nutrient cycling, finding that MPs altered soil enzyme activity and shifted bacterial community composition but had variable effects on plant growth depending on plastic type.
Microplastic particles alter wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function
Researchers found that microplastic particles altered wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function, with different polymer types inducing distinct shifts in bacterial diversity and nutrient cycling processes.