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Plastic pollution fosters more microbial growth in lakes than natural organic matter

Author

Listed:
  • Eleanor A. Sheridan

    (University of Cambridge
    University of Cambridge)

  • Jérémy A. Fonvielle

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Samuel Cottingham

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Yi Zhang

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Thorsten Dittmar

    (University of Oldenburg
    Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB))

  • David C. Aldridge

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Andrew J. Tanentzap

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Plastic debris widely pollutes freshwaters. Abiotic and biotic degradation of plastics releases carbon-based substrates that are available for heterotrophic growth, but little is known about how these novel organic compounds influence microbial metabolism. Here we found leachate from plastic shopping bags was chemically distinct and more bioavailable than natural organic matter from 29 Scandinavian lakes. Consequently, plastic leachate increased bacterial biomass acquisition by 2.29-times when added at an environmentally-relevant concentration to lake surface waters. These results were not solely attributable to the amount of dissolved organic carbon provided by the leachate. Bacterial growth was 1.72-times more efficient with plastic leachate because the added carbon was more accessible than natural organic matter. These effects varied with both the availability of alternate, especially labile, carbon sources and bacterial diversity. Together, our results suggest that plastic pollution may stimulate aquatic food webs and highlight where pollution mitigation strategies could be most effective.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleanor A. Sheridan & Jérémy A. Fonvielle & Samuel Cottingham & Yi Zhang & Thorsten Dittmar & David C. Aldridge & Andrew J. Tanentzap, 2022. "Plastic pollution fosters more microbial growth in lakes than natural organic matter," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31691-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31691-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    2. Ingrid E. Meyer-Cifuentes & Johannes Werner & Nico Jehmlich & Sabine E. Will & Meina Neumann-Schaal & Başak Öztürk, 2020. "Synergistic biodegradation of aromatic-aliphatic copolyester plastic by a marine microbial consortium," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Anne M. Kellerman & Thorsten Dittmar & Dolly N. Kothawala & Lars J. Tranvik, 2014. "Chemodiversity of dissolved organic matter in lakes driven by climate and hydrology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-8, September.
    4. Cristina Romera-Castillo & Maria Pinto & Teresa M. Langer & Xosé Antón Álvarez-Salgado & Gerhard J. Herndl, 2018. "Dissolved organic carbon leaching from plastics stimulates microbial activity in the ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bradshaw, Aaron, 2023. "The invisible city: The unglamorous biogeographies of urban microbial ecologies," SocArXiv drcuw, Center for Open Science.

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