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Community dynamics and functional traits drive microplastic sequestration by marine nematodes

Abstract Benthic sediments are recognized as the principal sink for the 'missing plastic', yet the biological processes governing microplastic (MP) fate within this reservoir remain critically unresolved. Here, we investigate whether and how marine nematode communities, the most abundant metazoans in marine sediments, influence the fate and ecological risk of MPs. Using short-term (9-day) and long-term (30-day) microcosm experiments, we assessed the influence of MP density and exposure time on nematode community structure, functional diversity, and sequestration capacity. Our results reveal that MP sequestration by nematodes only manifests at very high-MP densities. Counter-intuitively, the most severe impacts on nematode communities occurred at low MP densities, despite particle uptake remaining below detection there. The magnitude of the sequestration role of the …

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