{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T15:19:15Z","timestamp":1783351155152,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Key Research and Development and Technology Transfer Program of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China","award":["2025YFHH0145"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025YFHH0145"]}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Major Project of Ordos City","award":["ZD20232301"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZD20232301"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An emerging environmental pollutant, microplastics have garnered global attention due to their widespread presence in soil and aquatic ecosystems. Early research primarily treated microplastics as single pollutants, focusing on their individual toxic effects. However, microplastics in the environment exist as a complex mixture, comprising various polymer types, sizes, shapes, and aging states. This diversity influences how microplastics regulate ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycles and intervene through pathways such as direct carbon input, physical disturbance, microbial community restructuring, and coupled effects. This paper systematically reviews the characteristics of microplastic diversity and its mechanisms influencing carbon and nitrogen cycles: the chemical structure of polymers determines bioavailability and degradation rate, with biodegradable plastics altering carbon and nitrogen transformations more significantly than conventional plastics; microplastics of different sizes affect nitrogen transformation dynamics by modulating specific surface area and microbial colonization, with small-sized biodegradable microplastics particularly inhibiting plant nitrogen uptake; aging modifies surface properties and dissolved organic carbon release, thereby enhancing their role in promoting greenhouse gas emissions. Existing studies are largely confined to short-term laboratory simulations, leaving a gap in understanding the comprehensive effects of microplastic diversity under long-term, field conditions. Future research should focus on standardized methods and long-term experiments with multi-factor coupling to provide a scientific basis for ecological risk assessment of microplastic pollution.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics14070551","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T05:48:16Z","timestamp":1782366496000},"page":"551","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mechanisms of Microplastic Effects on Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Xintong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shi Jia College, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuxiao","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chia Min","family":"Ho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8478-1171","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Weiying","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuezheng","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eadl2746","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adl2746","article-title":"Twenty Years of Microplastic Pollution Research\u2014What Have We Learned?","volume":"386","author":"Thompson","year":"2024","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"933","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adk9505","article-title":"Element Cycling with Micro(Nano)Plastics","volume":"385","author":"Huang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21058","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.est.4c10405","article-title":"Pore-Scale Visualized Transport and Retention of Fibrous and Fragmental Microplastics in Porous Media under Various Surfactant Conditions","volume":"58","author":"Dong","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. 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