Biochar-mediated remediation of low-density polyethylene microplastic-polluted soil-plant systems: Role of phosphorus and protist community responses

While the prevalent utilization of plastic products has enabled social advancement, the concomitant microplastics (MPs) pollution presents a serious threat to environmental security and public health. Protists, as regulators of soil microorganisms, are also capable of responding most rapidly to changes in the soil environment. The amelioration mechanisms of biochar in the soil-plant systems polluted by low-density polyethylene microplastics (LDPE-MPs) and the response of protist communities in the soil-plant systems polluted by MPs remain unclear. In this field experiment, the same concentration of biochar (2 %) was applied to remediate different concentrations (1 % and 10 %) of LDPE-MPs pollution in cherry radish soil. The main results indicate that, when compared with the treatment of applying biochar to address high-level LDPE-MPs polluted soil (BP2), the remediation of low-level LDPE-MPs polluted soil by biochar (BP1) led to a 62.02 % reduction in soil available phosphorus. Meanwhile, the abundance of phoD and the activity of alkaline phosphatase increased by 127.75 % and 22.57 % respectively. Moreover, in contrast to BP2, the root biomass and phosphorus content of cherry radish in BP1 increased by 52.80 % and 42.86 % respectively. For protist communities, their structure, niche width, and assembly were altered. The interaction between biochar and LDPE-MPs influenced phosphorus cycling, and protists were closely associated with these processes. Therefore, soil phosphorus cycling indicators and protist community may be important indicators for biochar amelioration on soil MPs pollution. The study highlights the importance of considering these factors for better farmland management in the context of MPs pollution, which is significant for sustainable agriculture and environmental protection.