TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of multiple microplastic types on growth of winter wheat and soil properties vary in different agricultural soils
AU - Chen, Hongyu
AU - Ingraffia, Rosolino
AU - Schloter, Michael
AU - Brüggemann, Nicolas
AU - Rillig, Matthias C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Plants, People, Planet published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of New Phytologist Foundation.
PY - 2025/1
Y1 - 2025/1
N2 - Societal Impact Statement: Winter wheat is one of the most important crops in the world. Microplastics, as an emerging pollutant, are widespread in agricultural soils due to various modern agricultural practices and can have adverse impacts on agricultural soils and plant growth. Herein, we investigated the effects of 10 types of microplastics on the properties of three agricultural soil types and the growth of winter wheat. This study contributes insights toward the conservation of agricultural soils and potential wheat yield responses to microplastic. Understanding the mechanisms that underpin the differences in responses to this pollutant class is of great importance for management recommendations. Summary: Microplastics (MPs) (size < 5 mm) are increasingly recognized as anthropogenic contaminants that severely affect terrestrial ecosystems. These particles are always detected as a mixture of various polymer types and shapes. However, we have limited knowledge of the effect of combined MPs on plant–soil systems. To address this, we selected 10 types of MP, applied to three soil types singly and in combination along an increasing gradient of 1, 2, 5, 8, and 10 MP types at a content of 0.4% (w/v). After 8 weeks of pre-incubation, winter wheat (TOBAK) was grown in each pot for another 8 weeks. Shoot and root biomass, soil aggregation, and carbon and nitrogen content were measured. The effects of the same MP on both soil and plant properties were drastically different (in size and effect direction) in the different soil types. However, no clear patterns were observed along an increasing number of microplastic types, suggesting that knowing the number of microplastic types in a sample, at equity of overall concentration, does not help predict effects. In contrast, our findings reveal the complex effects of multiple MPs on the soil–plant system and highlight that soil properties need to be taken into consideration when studying MP effects on terrestrial systems.
AB - Societal Impact Statement: Winter wheat is one of the most important crops in the world. Microplastics, as an emerging pollutant, are widespread in agricultural soils due to various modern agricultural practices and can have adverse impacts on agricultural soils and plant growth. Herein, we investigated the effects of 10 types of microplastics on the properties of three agricultural soil types and the growth of winter wheat. This study contributes insights toward the conservation of agricultural soils and potential wheat yield responses to microplastic. Understanding the mechanisms that underpin the differences in responses to this pollutant class is of great importance for management recommendations. Summary: Microplastics (MPs) (size < 5 mm) are increasingly recognized as anthropogenic contaminants that severely affect terrestrial ecosystems. These particles are always detected as a mixture of various polymer types and shapes. However, we have limited knowledge of the effect of combined MPs on plant–soil systems. To address this, we selected 10 types of MP, applied to three soil types singly and in combination along an increasing gradient of 1, 2, 5, 8, and 10 MP types at a content of 0.4% (w/v). After 8 weeks of pre-incubation, winter wheat (TOBAK) was grown in each pot for another 8 weeks. Shoot and root biomass, soil aggregation, and carbon and nitrogen content were measured. The effects of the same MP on both soil and plant properties were drastically different (in size and effect direction) in the different soil types. However, no clear patterns were observed along an increasing number of microplastic types, suggesting that knowing the number of microplastic types in a sample, at equity of overall concentration, does not help predict effects. In contrast, our findings reveal the complex effects of multiple MPs on the soil–plant system and highlight that soil properties need to be taken into consideration when studying MP effects on terrestrial systems.
KW - microplastic
KW - multiple level
KW - plant–soil system
KW - soil properties
KW - winter wheat
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204040703&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ppp3.10573
DO - 10.1002/ppp3.10573
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204040703
SN - 2572-2611
VL - 7
SP - 194
EP - 203
JO - Plants People Planet
JF - Plants People Planet
IS - 1
ER -