Thesis ; Online: From plastic mulching to microplastic pollution
An effect assessment of microplastics in the soil-plant system
2021
Abstract: Plastic debris originating from mulching films has made a significant contribution to agricultural microplastic pollution. However, the accumulation of plastic residues and the occurrence of microplastics in agricultural fields are missing. Biodegradable ...
Abstract | Plastic debris originating from mulching films has made a significant contribution to agricultural microplastic pollution. However, the accumulation of plastic residues and the occurrence of microplastics in agricultural fields are missing. Biodegradable were introduced to agricultural systems due to its biodegradability. However, fully biodegradation under in-situ conditions have rarely been observed. Instead, biodegradable materials tend to break down into small bio-plastic fragments and microplastics. Worryingly, the ecological effects of LDPE and biodegradable microplastics in soil-plant systems remains largely unknown. For this reason, this PhD thesis aims to fill some knowledge gaps concerning the effects of plastic mulching and microplastic pollution on terrestrial ecosystems. To achieve this, a field observation, and a net house mesocosm experiment were carried out.In Chapter 2, a field observation was conducted in Northwestern China. We selected two regions with a long history of plastic mulching use but with two different farming systems. The first study region (S1) was characterized by small scale farmlands and low intensity machinery use. The second study region (S2) was characterized by large scale farmlands and high intensity machinery use. Plastic residues were collected from the top 0-30 cm of soil. Our results showed that in S1, fields with 6-8 years continuous plastic mulching accumulated significantly higher amounts of macroplastics than fields with 30 years intermittent plastic mulching. In S1, macroplastics in the 10–50 cm2 size category accounted for over 40% of the collected macroplastics, followed by macroplastics from 2–10 cm2 which accounted for over 30%. In S2, the collected macroplastics were mainly from the size category 0.25–2 cm2 (40.6%) and 2–10 cm2 (41.1%). Comparing the two study regions, macroplastics were more fragmented in S2 than in S1. This result was in line with the occurrence of microplastics in the two study regions. In S1, microplastics were only detected in fields ... |
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Keywords | Life Science |
Subject code | 580 |
Language | English |
Publisher | Wageningen University |
Publishing country | nl |
Document type | Thesis ; Online |
Database | BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection) |
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