MULTI-TROPHIC EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL MICROPLASTICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOIL BIOLOGICAL HEALTH

Our overarching goal is to reveal impacts of both conventional and biodegradable microplastics and nanoplastics on soil biota and their functions to better assess how plastic pollution affects soil health. Our driving questions are: 1) How do microplastics affect microbial and microfaunal communities and their functionality?; and 2) Do these impacts differ between conventional polyethylene (PE) films and biodegradable plastic films (BDMs)? Our proposed research will use agriculturally-relevant microplastic fragments to investigate effects of PE and BDM microplastics on soil organisms, populations and communities in terms of physiology, diversity, structure, and their contributions to critical soil functions.