Uncollected polythene fragments size-dependently alter soil multifunctionality via mediating bacterial drivers in dryland

作者：Ze‐Ying Zhao, Peng-Yang Wang, Xiao‐Bin Xiong, Yinglong Chen, Hong‐Yan Tao, Wenying Wang, Yajie Song, Muhammad Ashraf, Li Zhu, Yun-Li Xiao, Shisheng Li, Fang-Kun Yang, Mengying Li, Jing Cao, Xiang-Wen Fang, Levis Kavagi, You‐Cai Xiong · 发表于：National Science Review · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1093/nsr/nwae281 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology

Plastic pollution has emerged as a crucial driver of environmental change [1]. Despite human efforts towards recycling and clean-up, current practice makes it difficult to collect fragments that are <100 cm² in size and this poses a significant challenge for environmental sustainability [2]. Uncollectible fragments might modify soil ecosystem functions via mediating soil microbial communities, particularly soil multifunctionality (SMF) [3–5]. Currently, plastic fragments steadily accumulate in the environment and are believed to have negative impacts on soil function [2,6,7]. However, it remains unclear how the uncollected plastic pollution will affect SMF with increasing accumulation (over the next 30 years) and varying sizes. To address this widespread concern, a continuous 3-year field investigation was conducted in irrigated dryland. The results showed that various soil functions exhibited differentiate responses to plastic fragments (Fig. 1a–d). Overall, relative to the control group without plastic fragment addition (CK), the nitrogen storage function of the soil was significantly reduced in the area treated with fragment addition. Under low concentrations, nitrogen stocks initially decreased and then increased with increasing fragment sizes (P < 0.05). At high concentrations, however, there was no significant trend (Fig. 1a and Fig. S2). On the other hand, the enzymatic activity and DNA concentration functions were markedly enhanced, yet this was highly dependent on th...