Evolutionary implications of microplastics for soil biota.

Microplastic pollution is increasingly considered to be a factor of global change: in addition to aquatic ecosystems, this persistent contaminant is also found in terrestrial systems and soils. Microplastics have been chiefly examined in soils in terms of the presence and potential effects on soil biota. Given the persistence and widespread distribution of microplastics, it is also important to consider potential evolutionary implications of the presence of microplastics in soil; we offer such a perspective for soil microbiota. We discuss the range of selection pressures likely to act upon soil microbes, highlight approaches for the study of evolutionary responses to microplastics, and present the obstacles to be overcome. Pondering the evolutionary consequences of microplastics in soils can yield new insights into the effects of this group of pollutants, including establishing 'true' baselines in soil ecology, and understanding future responses of soil microbial populations and communities.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Environmental Chemistry

• Publication date

  2019-06-13

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1071/EN18118PMID 31231167PMCID PMC6588528
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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