Title:

Evaluating the Influence of Microplastics on Soil Microbial Community Composition through DNA Stable Isotope Probing

Microplastic pollution from point sources, including management practices, and nonpoint sources, such as runoff and precipitation, are increasing plastic concentrations in agricultural soils, potentially affecting agroecosystem function. There is a lack of knowledge surrounding how microplastics influence soil biogeochemical cycling, which is driven largely by the microbial community in soil. We used 18O water DNA stable isotope probing with an 8-week incubation to characterize the active microbial community in soils contaminated with microplastics. There were no changes in soil respiration (a proxy for microbial activity) with the addition of microplastics, and the community composition showed no significant changes between plastic and non-plastic treatments. Additionally, it appears that isotope enrichment in DNA was insufficient for differentiation between the heavy and light isotope samples. In low carbon, New Hampshire agricultural soils, microplastics may have little impact on biogeochemical cycling at low levels of microbial activity.

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