Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 125296 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
| Volume | 381 |
| Early online date | 12 Apr 2025 |
| Publication status | Published - May 2025 |
Abstract
The persistence of farmland microplastic (MP) pollution has raised significant concerns regarding its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) pools in the context of soil pollution but also of global climate change. Nevertheless, the effect of MPs on SOC mineralization as well as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transformation with different water levels in paddy soils remained uncertain. In this study, we investigated the effect of micro polyethylene (PE) on SOC decomposition in paddy soils under alternating wet and dry (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF) conditions through a 205-day microcosm experiment. Polyethylene addition reduced cumulative CO2 emissions by 5.1–14.8 % under both water conditions. The presence of PE influenced SOC mineralization under CF conditions by diminishing the activity of cellobiohydrolase enzymes and increasing the microbial community diversity. Conversely, at AWD the addition of PE impeded SOC mineralization by reducing the activity of polyphenol oxidase enzymes. However, PE addition resulted in higher DOC content and at low dose of PE addition (0.25 % w/w) increased DOM bioavailability. The most significantly positive effect was found with the addition of 1 % w/w PE, which increased DOC content by 37.2 % and 18.5 % compared to Control (CK) under AWD and CF conditions, respectively. The strong correlation observed between DOC and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) concentrations might result from DOC adsorbed to mineral surfaces to form MAOC and then affect SOC mineralization. Accordingly, AWD is a more efficient management to attenuate the impact of MPs on SOC decomposition compared to CF. Our study is noteworthy in the development of sustainable agricultural practice management in plastic-contaminated soil-crop systems.
Keywords
- Dissolved organic carbon, Enzyme activities, Microbial community, Microplastics, Polyethylene, Soil organic carbon mineralization
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Science(all)
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 381, 125296, 05.2025.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Water level regimes can regulate the influences of microplastic pollution on carbon loss in paddy soils
T2 - Insights from dissolved organic matter and carbon mineralization
AU - Lu, Xiaonan
AU - Wang, Lili
AU - Guggenberger, Georg
AU - Sun, Yue
AU - Hu, Runan
AU - Li, Tingxuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - The persistence of farmland microplastic (MP) pollution has raised significant concerns regarding its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) pools in the context of soil pollution but also of global climate change. Nevertheless, the effect of MPs on SOC mineralization as well as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transformation with different water levels in paddy soils remained uncertain. In this study, we investigated the effect of micro polyethylene (PE) on SOC decomposition in paddy soils under alternating wet and dry (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF) conditions through a 205-day microcosm experiment. Polyethylene addition reduced cumulative CO2 emissions by 5.1–14.8 % under both water conditions. The presence of PE influenced SOC mineralization under CF conditions by diminishing the activity of cellobiohydrolase enzymes and increasing the microbial community diversity. Conversely, at AWD the addition of PE impeded SOC mineralization by reducing the activity of polyphenol oxidase enzymes. However, PE addition resulted in higher DOC content and at low dose of PE addition (0.25 % w/w) increased DOM bioavailability. The most significantly positive effect was found with the addition of 1 % w/w PE, which increased DOC content by 37.2 % and 18.5 % compared to Control (CK) under AWD and CF conditions, respectively. The strong correlation observed between DOC and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) concentrations might result from DOC adsorbed to mineral surfaces to form MAOC and then affect SOC mineralization. Accordingly, AWD is a more efficient management to attenuate the impact of MPs on SOC decomposition compared to CF. Our study is noteworthy in the development of sustainable agricultural practice management in plastic-contaminated soil-crop systems.
AB - The persistence of farmland microplastic (MP) pollution has raised significant concerns regarding its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) pools in the context of soil pollution but also of global climate change. Nevertheless, the effect of MPs on SOC mineralization as well as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transformation with different water levels in paddy soils remained uncertain. In this study, we investigated the effect of micro polyethylene (PE) on SOC decomposition in paddy soils under alternating wet and dry (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF) conditions through a 205-day microcosm experiment. Polyethylene addition reduced cumulative CO2 emissions by 5.1–14.8 % under both water conditions. The presence of PE influenced SOC mineralization under CF conditions by diminishing the activity of cellobiohydrolase enzymes and increasing the microbial community diversity. Conversely, at AWD the addition of PE impeded SOC mineralization by reducing the activity of polyphenol oxidase enzymes. However, PE addition resulted in higher DOC content and at low dose of PE addition (0.25 % w/w) increased DOM bioavailability. The most significantly positive effect was found with the addition of 1 % w/w PE, which increased DOC content by 37.2 % and 18.5 % compared to Control (CK) under AWD and CF conditions, respectively. The strong correlation observed between DOC and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) concentrations might result from DOC adsorbed to mineral surfaces to form MAOC and then affect SOC mineralization. Accordingly, AWD is a more efficient management to attenuate the impact of MPs on SOC decomposition compared to CF. Our study is noteworthy in the development of sustainable agricultural practice management in plastic-contaminated soil-crop systems.
KW - Dissolved organic carbon
KW - Enzyme activities
KW - Microbial community
KW - Microplastics
KW - Polyethylene
KW - Soil organic carbon mineralization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105002342777&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125296
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125296
M3 - Article
C2 - 40222080
AN - SCOPUS:105002342777
VL - 381
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
SN - 0301-4797
M1 - 125296
ER -