Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The role of microphytobenthos in soft‐sediment ecological networks and their contribution to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services

This review examines the ecological role of microphytobenthos - microscopic algae living in soft sediments - in marine food webs and ecosystem services, highlighting their importance for carbon cycling, sediment stabilization, and supporting invertebrate communities. The study provides context for understanding how microplastic pollution of seafloor sediments could disrupt these foundational organisms.

2019 Journal of Ecology 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Can Microplastic Pollution Change Important Aquatic Bacterial Communities?

Microplastics in coastal sediments can change the composition of important bacterial communities that cycle nutrients and maintain ecosystem health. Microplastic-associated bacteria differ significantly from natural sediment bacteria, with potential consequences for the chemical processes these communities perform.

2021 Frontiers for Young Minds
Article Tier 2

Ecological risks in a ‘plastic’ world: A threat to biological diversity?

This review synthesized evidence on how microplastic pollution affects biological diversity and community structure across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, finding that most studies document effects at the individual level but that community- and ecosystem-level impacts remain poorly characterized.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 134 citations
Article Tier 2

Are microplastics destabilizing the global network of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem services?

This review assessed how microplastics and nanoplastics disrupt terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem services — including soil fertility, water filtration, and food production — arguing that the cumulative impacts across global ecosystems may destabilize the network of services on which human society depends.

2021 Environmental Research 189 citations
Article Tier 2

Mitigación mediante bacterias, hongos y organismos superiores de los impactos ambientales ocasionados por microplásticos en ecosistemas acuáticos

This review examines the mitigation of microplastic impacts in aquatic ecosystems using bacteria, fungi, and higher organisms, analyzing how these biological agents can degrade or remove MP particles and reduce their ecological effects.

2024 Ingeniería del agua 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2022 Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 78 citations
Article Tier 2

[Response of Water-Vallisneria natans-Sediment System to Polyethylene Microplastics].

This study examined how polyethylene microplastics affect the water-Vallisneria natans-sediment system, finding that microplastic exposure alters aquatic plant physiology, sediment microbial activity, and nutrient cycling dynamics.

2024 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on the structure and function of bacterial communities in sediments of a freshwater lake

Researchers examined how microplastics alter the structure and function of bacterial communities in sediments, finding that plastic exposure shifted community composition and reduced overall diversity compared to plastic-free controls. Functional analysis showed impaired denitrification and organic matter decomposition in microplastic-contaminated sediments, indicating ecosystem-level consequences for nutrient cycling.

2024 Chemosphere 9 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Environment International 238 citations
Article Tier 2

The distribution and ecological effects of microplastics in an estuarine ecosystem

Researchers surveyed 22 intertidal sites and found that microplastic abundance, size, and diversity correlated with benthic microalgal communities and sediment biostabilization properties in an estuarine ecosystem.

2021 Environmental Pollution 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Modelled broad-scale shifts on seafloor ecosystem functioning due to microplastic impacts on bioturbation

Model simulations incorporating experimental bioturbation data found that broad-scale reductions in seafloor bioturbation caused by microplastic impacts on marine invertebrates could significantly alter nutrient cycling in marine sediments at ecosystem scales.

2023 Scientific Reports 15 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on microplastic pollution in the mangrove wetlands and microbial strategies for its remediation

Researchers reviewed the growing problem of microplastic pollution in mangrove wetland ecosystems and its effects on the biological communities that depend on these habitats. They found that microplastic exposure can substantially alter the microbial communities critical to nutrient cycling in mangrove environments. The review also explores microbial bioremediation strategies as a sustainable approach to addressing plastic pollution in these threatened coastal ecosystems.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Impact of Microplastic Pollution on Coastal Ecosystems: a Multidimensional Environmental Approach

This review presents a comprehensive multidimensional analysis of microplastic pollution in coastal ecosystems, examining how microplastics alter sediment dynamics, disrupt marine food webs, and interact synergistically with heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants to create a complex environmental crisis requiring integrative management solutions.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Discrepancy strategies of sediment abundant and rare microbial communities in response to floating microplastic disturbances: Study using a microcosmic experiment

Using microcosm experiments with fluvial sediment exposed to four plastic types, researchers found that floating microplastics altered sediment microbial diversity and reduced bacteria involved in carbon and nitrogen cycling. Abundant microbial taxa were more sensitive to microplastic disturbance than rare taxa, and microplastics decreased network complexity and increased negative species interactions in microbial communities.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 46 citations
Article Tier 2

The impacts of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics (mPETs) on ecosystem functionality in marine sediment

Researchers found that PET microplastics disrupted key ecosystem functions in marine sediments over a 31-day experiment, impairing nutrient cycling and the activity of bivalves and microphytobenthos. The results suggest that even moderate concentrations of microplastics can harm the ecological services provided by seafloor communities.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 26 citations
Review Tier 2

[Interaction between microplastics and microorganisms in soil environment: a review].

This review examines how microplastics alter soil microbial community structure and diversity, and how microorganisms in turn colonize plastic surfaces and degrade them through extracellular enzymes — with degradation efficiency dependent on polymer properties and environmental conditions.

2023 PubMed 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Emerging Soil Pollutants

This review covers how microplastics enter and accumulate in soils, their effects on soil health, microbial communities, soil fauna, and plant growth, and the implications of widespread soil plastic contamination for ecosystem function.

2024
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

Effects of microplastics on nitrogen and phosphorus cycles and microbial communities in sediments

Researchers found that PVC, PLA, and polypropylene microplastics altered nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in freshwater sediments by shifting microbial community composition, with effects varying by polymer type and biodegradability.

2022 Environmental Pollution 107 citations