Microplastic and paper-derived particle effects on soil bacterial and fungal communities in an agricultural microcosm

This project investigates the effects of polyethylene microplastics and paper-based microfragments on soil bacterial and fungal communities in an agricultural sandy-loam soil from Portugal. A controlled microcosm experiment was conducted with low and high particle concentrations, and samples were collected at baseline, two months, and six months of incubation. Bacterial communities were characterized using 16S rRNA gene (V3-V4) amplicon sequencing and fungal communities using ITS1 amplicon sequencing on an Illumina platform. The study aims to evaluate how different particulate residues influence soil microbial community composition and ecological assembly processes over time.