Unfortunately, microplastic pollution cause major damage to the soil-dwelling mites, larvae, and other creatures which keep the land fertile, according to a new study.
The study points out that the discarded plastic garbage is concentrated higher in our soil than in the oceans, but has a similarly negative outcome for the species living beneath the surface.
We don’t see them with our eyes, but they’re a major link in the carbon and nitrogen recycling and the dissolving organic matter into forms which bacteria can consume.
Humanity: the Destroyer of Planet Earth?
The mites, springtails, and other forms are threatened by the oil-based synthetic refuse, claims the new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
As humanity, we’ve produced 6300 million metric tons of plastic waste since the 50s. 79 percent of this waste has gone into the landfills or leaked into our environment.
This is the first-ever study of how this waste will influence the abundance of organisms living in our soil.
They concluded a major reduction of the most common species, oribatid mites and an even bigger decline of three other arthropods, i.e. Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Hymenoptera.
The scientists expect further studies at various depths and in other environments and call for a reduction in plastics usage and doing something to prevent plastic waste in soil due to the immense negative outcome on the soil life and our ecosystems.
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