Interaction of Lumbricus terrestris with macroscopic polyethylene and biodegradable plastic mulch.

Autor: Zhang L; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA 98371, USA; College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China., Sintim HY; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA 98371, USA., Bary AI; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA 98371, USA., Hayes DG; Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA., Wadsworth LC; Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA., Anunciado MB; Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA., Flury M; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA 98371, USA. Electronic address: flury@wsu.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2018 Sep 01; Vol. 635, pp. 1600-1608. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Apr 17.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.054
Abstrakt: Polyethylene mulch films used in agriculture are a major source of plastic pollution in soils. Biodegradable plastics have been introduced as alternative to commonly-used polyethylene. Here we studied the interaction of earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) with polyethylene and biodegradable plastic mulches. The objective was to assess whether earthworms would select between different types of mulches when foraging for food, and whether they drag macroscopic plastic mulch into the soil. Laboratory experiments were carried out with earthworms in Petri dishes and mesocosms. The treatments were standard polyethylene mulch, four biodegradable plastic mulches (PLA/PHA [polylactic acid/polyhydroxy alkanoate], Organix, BioAgri, Naturecycle), a biodegradable paper mulch (WeedGuardPlus), and poplar litter, which served as control. Four and three replicates for the Petri dish and mesocosm experiments were used, respectively. Macroscopic plastic and paper mulch pieces (1.5 cm × 1.5 cm and 2 cm × 2 cm) were collected from an agricultural field after a growing season, after being buried in the soil for 6 and 12 months, and after being composted for 2 weeks. We found that earthworms did not ingest polyethylene. Field-weathered biodegradable plastic mulches were not ingested either, however, after soil burial and composting, some biodegradable plastics were eaten and could not be recovered from soil any longer. Earthworms, when foraging for food, dragged plastic mulch, including polyethylene and biodegradable plastic, and poplar leaves into their burrows. The burial of macroscopic plastic mulch underground led to a redistribution of plastics in the soil profile, and likely enhances the degradation of biodegradable mulches in soil, but also can lead to leaching of plastic fragments by macropore flow.
(Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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