{"id":575910,"date":"2026-01-27T17:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=575910"},"modified":"2026-01-27T18:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:05:31","slug":"plastic-and-climate-change-threaten-reproduction-of-amazonian-fungi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/plastic-and-climate-change-threaten-reproduction-of-amazonian-fungi\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic and climate change threaten reproduction of Amazonian fungi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beneath the submerged leaf litter of the Amazon\u2019s forest streams, microscopic fungi help keep local food chains in balance and turn dead organic matter into nutrients that nourish insects, fish\u2014and, indirectly, millions of people. A study published in Science of the Total Environment<\/em> in June warns that these unassuming organisms could be disrupted by the combined effects of microplastics and climate change\u2014altering their reproduction, diversity, and the way they decompose organic matter.<\/p>\n

The research, led by scientists at the Federal University of Par\u00e1 (UFPA) in collaboration with teams from the Brazilian Institute for Amazon Research (INPA), the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), and the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), used climate-controlled chambers to recreate environmental conditions projected for the Amazon through the year 2100. In these simulations, researchers exposed leaf-decomposing fungi to different concentrations of microplastics, along with changes in temperature and carbon dioxide levels. \u201cWe saw clear changes in fungal reproduction,\u201d says UFPA biologist Viviane Caetano Firmino, the study\u2019s lead author. \u201cThe effects were strongest when high microplastic levels were compounded by extreme climate conditions,\u201d she adds. The total species richness did not decrease, but some species within the fungal communities were replaced. More tolerant or competitively dominant species took over, while others nearly vanished.<\/p>\n

The fungi\u2019s ability to decompose organic matter also declined, posing direct risks to nutrient cycling\u2014the natural process that recycles nutrients back into the ecosystem for use by other organisms. \u201cMicroplastics have already made their way into Amazon streams. That means we could lose some essential ecosystem services\u2014and that\u2019s what worries us most,\u201d says biologist Leandro Juen of UFPA. Juen is one of the study\u2019s coauthors and leads the National Institute of Science and Technology for the Synthesis of Amazonian Biodiversity (SinBiAm).<\/p>\n

His concern centers on the possibility that disruptions at the base of the food chain could ripple upward\u2014affecting not just insects and fish that rely on fungal nutrient cycling, but also the food security of millions of people. \u201cFungi make decaying plant matter more palatable to other organisms,\u201d Juen explains. \u201cThey\u2019re the invisible gears that keep Amazonian stream ecosystems running.\u201d When decomposition is less efficient, stream water tends to turn more acidic and less potable.<\/p>\n

The experiments were carried out in climate simulation chambers at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) in Manaus, which can recreate in real time various climate scenarios projected for the rainforest. Under the extreme scenario, water temperatures increased by 5.1 \u00b0C and carbon dioxide levels surpassed 1,080 ppmv (parts per million by volume). In the moderate scenario, temperature rose by 3.3 \u00b0C and CO2<\/sub> reached about 700 ppmv. These conditions mirror projections developed by the United Nations\u2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the fungi were exposed to varying microplastic concentrations\u2014from none, to low (1.8 \u00d7 10 particles per milliliter), to moderate (1.8 \u00d7 102<\/sup> particles per milliliter). To determine the combined effects of these factors, the researchers used disks cut from the leaves of shirua (Nectandra cuspidata)\u2014a tree species common throughout the Amazon\u2014prepared so that natural decomposer fungi from local streams could colonize them.<\/p>\n

Over 15 days, the team tracked several key metrics of aquatic ecosystem health and balance, including spore production, species diversity, and how efficiently the fungi decomposed organic matter.<\/p>\n

According to Spanish ecologist Luz Boyero, from the University of the Basque Country, studying multiple stressors together is essential as it reveals how their interactions can be mutually reinforcing (additive effects) or interact in more unpredictable, complex ways (nonadditive effects). \u201cIn Amazonian fungi, production of conidia [the reproductive spores] responded to microplastics differently depending on climate conditions,\u201d Boyero explains. \u201cThat may reflect differences in how sensitive each species is and how fast it reproduces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyero wasn\u2019t part of the project, but one of her 2023 studies on microplastics, published in Environmental Pollution<\/em>, helped inform the Brazilian team\u2019s experimental design. \u201cIn one of our studies, we found that higher temperatures combined with eutrophication [excess of nutrients in the water] changed how organisms feeding on decomposing matter balanced elements like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in their bodies, even though the decomposition process itself stayed the same,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Insects and other small aquatic invertebrates that feed on decomposing matter began showing altered internal ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. While the leaf litter continued to decompose, shifts in the animals\u2019 internal chemistry could affect the nutritional quality of food available to organisms higher up the food chain.<\/p>\n

Biologist Adalberto Val, a researcher at INPA who wasn\u2019t involved in the study, celebrated the UFPA team\u2019s research\u2014but noted how it underscores the scale of the climate crisis. \u201cClimate change in the Amazon turns warm waters warmer, low-oxygen waters even more depleted, and acidic waters more acidic,\u201d Val summarizes. \u201cThat\u2019s why studies like this one\u2014probing the ecosystem\u2019s future\u2014are so critical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story above was published with the title “Invisible fungi, visible impacts<\/strong>” in issue 356 of October\/2025.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles<\/strong>
\nFIRMINO, V. C. et al<\/em>. Climate change and microplastic effects on conidial fungal assemblages associated with leaf litter in an Amazonian stream<\/a>. Science of the Total Environment<\/strong>. Vol. 992, 179968. Aug. 25, 2025.
\nP\u00c9REZ, J. et al<\/em>. Warming overrides eutrophication effects on leaf litter decomposition in stream microcosms<\/a>. Environmental Pollution<\/strong>. Vol. 332, pp. 121966. Sept. 1, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plastic and climate change threaten reproduction of Amazonian fungi","protected":false},"author":762,"featured_media":575915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[217,224],"coauthors":[5094],"class_list":["post-575910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-climate","tag-ecology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577552,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575910\/revisions\/577552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575910"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=575910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}