Microplastic fiber and drought effects on plants and soil are only slightly modified by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Anika Lehmann1,2(), Eva F. Leifheit1,2, Linshan Feng1, Joana Bergmann1,2,3, Anja Wulf1, Matthias C. Rillig1,2
1. Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie, 14195 Berlin, Germany 2. Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, 14195 Berlin, Germany 3. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
• Under drought conditions the AM-fungal-only treatment had the highest biomass.
• Colonization with AM fungi increased under microfiber addition.
• The mean weight diameter of soil aggregates decreased under microplastic contamination and drought stress, respectively.
• Under drought conditions AM fungi increased litter decomposition
Microplastics are increasingly recognized as a factor of global change. By altering soil inherent properties and processes, ripple-on effects on plants and their symbionts can be expected. Additionally, interactions with other factors of global change, such as drought, can influence the effect of microplastics. We designed a greenhouse study to examine effects of polyester microfibers, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and drought on plant, microbial and soil responses. We found that polyester microfibers increased the aboveground biomass of Allium cepa under well-watered and drought conditions, but under drought conditions the AM fungal-only treatment reached the highest biomass. Colonization with AM fungi increased under microfiber contamination, however, plant biomass did not increase when both AM fungi and fibers were present. The mean weight diameter of soil aggregates increased with AM fungal inoculation overall but decreased when the system was contaminated with microfibers or drought stressed. Our study adds additional support to the mounting evidence that microplastic fibers in soil can affect the plant–soil system by promoting plant growth, and favoring key root symbionts, AM fungi. Although soil aggregation is usually positively influenced by plant roots and AM fungi, and microplastic promotes both, our results show that plastic still had a negative effect on soil aggregates. Even though there are concerns that microplastic might interact with other factors of global change, our study revealed no such effect for drought.
. [J]. Soil Ecology Letters, 2022, 4(1): 32-44.
Anika Lehmann, Eva F. Leifheit, Linshan Feng, Joana Bergmann, Anja Wulf, Matthias C. Rillig. Microplastic fiber and drought effects on plants and soil are only slightly modified by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Soil Ecology Letters, 2022, 4(1): 32-44.
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