The impact of microplastic pollution on terrestrial biota is an emerging research area, and this is particularly so for soil biota. In this study, we addressed this knowledge gap by examining the impact of aged low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyester fibres (i.e. polyethylene terephthalate, PET) on a forest microbiome composition and activity. We also measured the corresponding physicochemical changes in the soil. We observed that bacteria community composition diverged in PET and LDPE treated soils from that of the control by day 42. These changes occurred at 0.2 and 0.4% (w/w) of PET and at 3% LDPE. Additionally, soil respiration was 8-fold higher in soil that received 3% LDPE compared to other treatments and control. There were no clear patterns linking these biological changes to physicochemical changes measured. Taken together, we concluded that microplastics aging in the environment may have evolutionary consequences for forest soil microbiome and there is immediate implication for climate change if the observed increase in soil respiration is reproducible in multiple ecosystems.

微生物污染对陆生生物区系的影响是一个新兴的研究领域，对于土壤生物区系尤其如此。在这项研究中，我们通过检查老化的低密度聚乙烯（LDPE）和聚酯纤维（即聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯，PET）对森林微生物组组成和活性的影响，解决了这一知识鸿沟。我们还测量了土壤中相应的理化变化。我们观察到，到第42天，PET和LDPE处理土壤的细菌群落组成与对照有所不同。这些变化发生在0.2％和0.4％（w / w）的PET和3％LDPE处。此外，与其他处理和对照相比，接受3％LDPE的土壤的土壤呼吸高8倍。没有明确的模式将这些生物学变化与所测物理化学变化联系起来。在一起