Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Effects of microplastics and earthworm burrows on soil macropore water flow within a laboratory soil column setup

Miao Yu, Martine van der Ploeg, Xiaoyi Ma, C.J. Ritsema, Violette Geissen

Vadose Zone Journal · 2020

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Summary

Abstract Several earlier studies reported that microplastics (MP) accumulated on soil surfaces could be transported into the subsoil and ingested by soil biota, such as earthworms. The present study explores how networks of earthworm burrows and MP (low‐density polyethylene, LDPE) in subsoil affect the soil hydraulic properties and saturated water flow. A repacked and saturated sandy soil column experiment was conducted in an environment‐controlled laboratory with earthworms (anecic, Lumbricus terrestris ) inoculated into the soil columns to form networks of macropore. The macropore network parameters (i.e., number, length, volume, diameter, soil saturated conductivity, and tracer breakthrough curves of soil columns) have been determined. The relative arrival times of the tracer mass (i.e.

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1002/vzj2.20059
Catalogue ID
BFmoakvrxk-n060wm
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