Characteristics of microplastics and their abundance impacts on microbial structure and function in agricultural soils of remote areas in west China

As an emergent pollutant, microplastics (MPs) are becoming prevalent in the soil environment. However, the characteristics of MPs and the response of microbial communities to the abundance of MPs in agricultural soils in West China still need to be elucidated in detail. This study utilized the Agilent 8700 Laser Direct Infrared (LDIR) to analyze the characteristics of small-sized MPs (20-1000 μm) in soils from un-mulched and mulched agricultural fields in West China, and illustrated their correlation with microbial diversity. The results revealed a higher abundance of MPs in mulched soil ((4.12 ± 2.13) × 10