Abstract
Microplastic pollution and increasing temperature have potential to influence soil quality; yet little is known about their effects on soil aggregation, a key determinant of soil quality. Given the importance of fungi for soil aggregation, we investigated the impacts of increasing temperature and microplastic fibers on aggregation by carrying out a soil incubation experiment in which we inoculated soil individually with 5 specific strains of soil saprobic fungi. Our treatments were temperature (ambient temperature of 25°C or temperature increased by 3°C, abruptly versus gradually) and microplastic fibers (control and 0.4% w/w). We evaluated the percentage of water stable aggregates (WSA) and hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) as an indicator of fungal biomass. Microplastic fiber addition was the main factor influencing the WSA, decreasing the percentage of WSA except in soil incubated with strain RLCS 01, and mitigated the effects of temperature or even caused more pronounced decrease in WSA under increasing temperature. We also observed clear differences between temperature change patterns. Our study shows that the interactive effects of warming and microplastic fibers are important to consider when evaluating effects of global change on soil aggregation and potentially other soil processes.
Highlights
Our soils are confronted with an unprecedented change: due to anthropogenic influence the climate is globally changing and new threats of contamination are emerging (Allen et al, 2014; de Souza Machado et al, 2018a)
Given the importance of fungi for soil aggregation, we investigated the impacts of increasing temperature and microplastic fibers on aggregation by carrying out a soil incubation experiment in which we inoculated soil individually with 5 specific strains of soil saprobic fungi
We evaluated the percentage of water stable aggregates (WSA) and hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) as an indicator of fungal biomass
Summary
Our soils are confronted with an unprecedented change: due to anthropogenic influence the climate is globally changing and new threats of contamination are emerging (Allen et al, 2014; de Souza Machado et al, 2018a). These changes act upon the soil system with far-reaching but poorly understood consequences on soil biota, soil functions [e.g., gas exchange, water infiltration, erosion resistance (Stewart and Hartge, 1995)] and ecosystem services [e.g., carbon storage, food production (Wheeler and von Braun, 2013; Crowther et al, 2016)]. The process of soil aggregation encompasses the process components formation, stabilization and disintegration; all working simultaneously under natural conditions giving rise to soil aggregates which represent building blocks of soil structure.
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