Impacts of plastic pollution on soil–plant properties and greenhouse gas emissions in wetlands: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Plastic pollution in wetlands has recently emerged as an urgent environmental problem. However, the impacts of plastic contamination on soil-plant properties and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in wetlands remain unclear. Thus, this study conducted a meta-analysis based on 44 study sites to explore the influence of plastic pollution on soil physicochemical variables, soil microorganisms, enzyme activity, functional genes, plant characteristics, and GHG emissions (CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O) in different wetland types. Based on the collected dataset, the plastic pollution significantly increased soil organic matter and organic carbon by on average 28.9% and 34.2%, respectively, while decreased inorganic nutrient elements, bacteria alpha diversity and enzyme activities by an average of 5.9−14.2%. The response of bacterial abundance to plastic pollution varied depending on phylum classes. Plant biomass and photosynthetic efficiency were decreased by an average of 12.8% and 18.4% due to plastic pollution. The concentration and exposure time of plastics play a key role in influencing the soil and plant properties in wetlands. Furthermore, plastic exposure notably increased the abundance of the functional genes related to C degradation and the ammonia oxidizing microorganisms, and the consequent CO₂ and N₂O emissions (with effect sizes of 2.10 and 1.94, respectively). We also found that plastic concentrations and exposure duration affected the wetland soil–plant system. Our results might be helpful to design further investigations on plastic effects and develop appropriate measures for mitigating plastic pollution in wetlands.