The effects of microplastics on crop variation depend on polymer types and their interactions with soil nutrient availability and weed competition
Cite this dataset
Ma, Kai; Fu, Yanmei; Liu, Yanjie (2024). The effects of microplastics on crop variation depend on polymer types and their interactions with soil nutrient availability and weed competition [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44z0
Abstract
Microplastics pollution of agricultural soil is a global environmental concern because of its potential risk to food security and human health. Although many studies have tested the direct effects of microplastics on growth of Eruca sativa Mill., little is known about whether these effects are regulated by fertilization and weed competition in field management practices.
Here, we performed a greenhouse experiment growing E. sativa as target species in a three-factorial design with two levels of fertilization (low versus. high), two levels of weed competition treatments (weed competition versus no weed competition) and five levels of microplastic treatments (no microplastics, Polybutylene adipateco-terephthalate [PBAT], Polybutylene succinate [PBS], Polycaprolactone [PCL] or Polypropylene [PP]).
Compared to the soil without microplastics, PBS and PCL reduced aboveground biomass and leaf number of the E. sativa. PBS also resulted in increased root allocation and thicker roots in E. sativa. In addition, fertilization significantly mitigated the negative effects of PBS and PCL on aboveground biomass of E. sativa, but weed competition significantly promoted these effects. Although fertilization alleviated the negative effect of PBS on aboveground biomass, such alleviation became weaker under weed competition than when E. sativa grew alone.
The results indicate that the effects of specific polymer types on E. sativa growth could be regulated by fertilization, weed management, and even their interactions. Therefore, reasonable on-farm management practices may help in mitigating the negative effects of microplastics pollution on E. sativa growth in agricultural fields.
README: The effects of microplastics on crop variation depend on polymer types and their interactions with soil nutrient availability and weed competition
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44z0
This file contains data of plant biomass, leaves number, root mass fraction(RMF) and specific root length(SRL).In this study, the presence of NA values in the dataset is primarily due to two reasons. Firstly, the death of four plants during the experimental process meant that we were unable to collect data from these plants, resulting in a total reduction from the expected 200 plants to 196 plants. Secondly, regarding the underground biomass data, we only harvested the roots of singly cultivated plants of the mustard species, as it was challenging to separate the intertwined roots in the case of co-cultivation, leading to NA values for this particular data point.
- Shoot_Target: Above-ground biomass of E. sativa (g)
- RMF_Target: Root mass fraction of E. sativa (%)
- SRL_Target: Specific root length of E. sativa (m/g)
- Shoot_Comp: Above-ground biomass of A. retroflexus (g)
- IniH_Target: Initial hight of E. sativa (cm)
- IniH_Comp: Initial hight of A. retroflexus (cm)
- Target_family: Family of Eruca sativa Mill.
- Target_species: E. sativa
- Comp_family: Family of Amaranthus retroflexus L.
- Comp_species: A. retroflexus L.
- Nutriention: Fertilization treatments
- Competition: Weed competition treatments
- Plastic1: Microplastic treatments
- leaves number_Target: Leaves number of E. sativa
Methods
greenhouse experiment
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Award: 32201341
Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province, Award: YDZJ202301ZYTS342
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Award: Y9B7041001
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Award: 2022CXTD01, Innovation Team Project of the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology