Microplastic effects on plants.
By Matthias C. Rillig, A. Lehmann, A. A. S. Machado, Gaowen Yang. New Phytologist, 2019
650 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Microplastic effects in terrestrial ecosystems have recently moved into focus, after about a decade of research being limited to aquatic systems. While effects on soil physical properties and soil biota are starting to become apparent, there is not much information on the consequences for plant performance. We here propose and discuss mechanistic pathways through which microplastics could impact plant growth, either positively or negatively. These effects will vary as a function of plant species, and plastic type, and thus are likely to translate to changes in plant community composition and perhaps primary production. Our mechanistic framework serves to guide ongoing and future research on this important topic.
Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Pollution
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8140882435d84318dc883853244545195f33d2fd
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In Biomedical Engineering
In Pollution
Citations in the corpus
- A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth (2020, background): “However, little is known about potential impacts in terrestrial ecosystems, particularly with regard to effects on plants (Rillig et al., 2019).”
- Microplastic fiber and drought effects on plants and soil are only slightly modified by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (2020, background): “Previous work (Machado et al., 2019) has revealed that plant performance can be positively affected by microplastic presence in the soil, most strikingly by the presence of microplastic fibers, likely as a consequence of their linear shape (Rillig et al., 2019b).”
- Interactions between microplastics and soil fauna: A critical review (2021, background): “In fact, MPs can enter the soil through multiple pathways, such as plastic mulching, the application of biosolids, and atmospheric deposition, and potentially threaten terrestrial ecosystems (de Souza Machado et al., 2018; Rillig, 2012; M. C. Rillig et al., 2017; Rillig et al., 2019).”