Emerging Microplastics Alter the Influences of Soil Animals on the Fungal Community Structure in Determining the Litter Decomposition of a Deciduous Tree

Abstract

Microplastics enter forest ecosystems in a variety of ways, including through atmospheric deposition, anthropogenic waste, and leaching. There is growing evidence of the ecotoxicity of microplastics to soil decomposers. Soil animals and microorganisms are the main decomposers of plant litter, and their interactions play important roles in determining the terrestrial biochemical cycle. However, how emerging microplastics in forests affect the influence of soil animals on the fungal community in decomposed litter is still unclear. Here, by constructing a rigorous mesocosm experiment, we investigated soil enzyme activities and the variation in fungal community characteristics in the leaf litter of a deciduous tree, Lindera glauca, which was decomposed by contrasting decomposer structures (with or without soil animals) under different contamination conditions (with or without microplastic contamination), aiming to determine the impacts of these factors on litter decomposition. We found that soil animals can significantly depress the litter decomposition rate by reducing fungal diversity and largely changing the community structure in the litter. However, these critical changes caused by soil animals were inhibited in the mesocosms contaminated with high-density polyethylene microplastics (HDPE−MPs), during which soil animal activities were significantly reduced. These findings represent a step forward in illustrating the potential effect of emerging contamination stress on forest litter decomposition and biogeochemical cycles under global environmental change.