聚乙烯地膜碎片尺寸与浓度对土壤细菌功能的影响

    Effects of polyethylene film debris size and concentration on soil bacterial functions

    • 摘要: 聚乙烯地膜碎片对土壤生态系统的影响已引起广泛关注,但其作用于土壤细菌群落结构及代谢功能的内在机制尚不明确。为系统揭示农田中难以回收的地膜碎片对土壤细菌代谢功能的影响,该研究设置了3种地膜碎片尺寸:小碎片(0.4 cm×0.4 cm)、中碎片(4.0 cm×4.0 cm)和大碎片(10.0 cm×10.0 cm)以及2个浓度:低浓度(1 350 kg/hm2)和高浓度(2 750 kg/hm2)。以不添加地膜碎片为对照(CK),开展了为期3 a(2019—2021)的田间孵育试验,探究地膜碎片对地膜源污染物(微塑料和塑化剂)形成、细菌群落结构和功能的影响。结果表明:1)小碎片显著增加了微塑料丰度和塑化剂浓度(P<0.05)。2)不同碎片尺寸和浓度处理未改变细菌群落优势菌组成,但有益细菌丰度随碎片尺寸和浓度升高显著下降。此外,地膜碎片污染土壤中碳循环、污染物降解和氮循环相关功能表达下降,而病原体相关代谢表达上升。3)相关性分析显示,微塑料丰度(P=0.034)和塑化剂浓度(P=0.047)均与碳循环表达呈显著负相关。随机森林与主成分分析表明细菌功能多样性、土壤酶活、pH、全氮是驱动细菌功能变化的关键机制因素,而地膜源污染物对功能变化的直接驱动作用有限。综上,聚乙烯地膜碎片通过加剧污染物释放及调控土壤微环境和微生物多样性,削弱了土壤细菌生态功能。研究结果为地膜残留污染的生态风险评价和农田管理提供了数据支撑与理论参考。

       

      Abstract: Polyethylene macro- and microplastic residues have emerged as their potential impacts on the soil ecosystems. However, it remains unclear on the influence mechanisms of the plastic debris on the structure and functions of the soil bacterial community. In this study, a three-year field incubation experiment was conducted to explore the effect of the plastic debris and concentration on the soil bacterial function. Specifically, three sizes of the polyethylene debris: small debris (Small, 0.4×0.4 cm), medium debris (Medium, 4.0×4.0 cm), and large debris (Large, 10.0×10.0 cm). Two levels of the application concentration were set as: low concentration (L, 1350 kg/hm2) and high concentration (H, 2750 kg/hm2). A control (CK) group was set without polyethylene debris. A systematic investigation was also made to explore the impacts of the polyethylene debris on the plastic film-sourced pollutants (e.g., microplastics and phthalic acid esters), bacterial community structure, and soil ecological functions. The results indicated that both fragment size and concentration significantly influenced the abundance of microplastics and phthalic acid esters content. Notably, microplastics abundance in the Small_L and Small_H treatments was significantly higher than in the rest treatments. Compared with the CK, the polyethylene debris were was significantly reduced in the functional diversity of soil bacteria, with the exception of the Large_L treatment. Small and medium debris caused a reduction in the bacterial alpha diversity, whereas the large debris showed a slight increase. Additionally, the polyethylene fragment treatments significantly decreased the relative abundance of the beneficial bacteria in the soil. There was the a more pronounced decline with the increasing fragment size and concentration. Linear discriminant effect size (LEfSe) analysis showed that the eight genera and one class of microbial taxa were identified highly sensitive to polyethylene debris. Notably, the polyethylene fragment pollution was significantly reduced in the relative abundance of functions that related to the soil carbon cycling, compound degradation metabolism, and nitrogen cycling. While tThere was the an increase in the relative abundance of the functions associated with the pathogen metabolism of the soil ecosystem. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed that there was the a significant correlation between soil carbon cycling functions and plastic film-sourced pollutants. There was no significant correlation between these pollutants and other functions, including pollutant metabolism, nitrogen cycling, or pathogen metabolism. Random forest analysis highlighted that the bacterial functional diversity, soil enzyme activity, pH, and the size and concentration of polyethylene debris were the primary drivers of the bacterial function (R²=0.225). Moreover, the soil enzyme activity, bacterial community diversity, and fragment size and concentration were identified as the key influencing factors on the bacterial functional diversity (R²=0.730). These findings suggest that the controlling thresholds of the fragment size and concentration was were critical to mitigate the adverse effects of polyethylene debris on the soil microbial ecosystems during film-derived pollution. In summary, this finding can provide new scientific evidence for the influencing mechanisms of the plastic pollution on the soil microbial properties and ecological functions. The theoretical guidance can also offer to monitor and mitigate the plastic pollution in agricultural soils..

       

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