PLAST-N-cycling is a two-year post-doctoral project obtained by our team member Dr. Ula Putar, funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency. The project will focus on studying the impact of microplastics on the nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions.
Most research to date has mainly focused on monitoring and assessing the direct effects of microplastics on biota and humans, while the indirect effects on biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas emissions have been overlooked and represent the largest gap in knowledge about microplastics in the environment. Biogeochemical cycles include natural processes of consumption and transformation of various forms of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus that occur in individual segments of the ecosystem but are linked to the global nutrient cycle that operates through biotic and abiotic mechanisms.
The project aims to investigate the impact of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on the bioavailability of nutrients, their conversion processes, and greenhouse gas emissions. The key to this lies in the selection and preparation of environmentally relevant microplastics. The effects on the nutrient cycling will be systematically investigated, focusing on both abiotic and biotic effects by determining the adsorption of different forms of nutrients on microplastics. In the second part of the project, the impact of microplastics on greenhouse gas emissions will be investigated.
Duration of the project: 1.1.2025 – 31.12.2026
