o:7041 Impact of Microplastics on Forest Soil Properties in Pollution Hotspots in Alluvial Plains of Large Rivers (Morava, Sava, and Danube) of Serbia en Abstract: Plastic pollution has become a major environmental problem, while the products of its degradation, microplastics (MPs), appear everywhere on Earth. Data on MPs in agricultural soils have appeared lately, but a significant knowledge gap exists regarding forest soils. In Serbia, municipal waste is often dumped in forests, creating environmental problems that have not been documented. To explore the impact of waste dumping and MPs on forest fluvisols, we evaluated MPs from topsoils of three waste dumps and adequate visibly plastic non-contaminated forest sites located in alluviums of the largest rivers in Serbia. For assessing the influence of environmental factors on soil MPs, samples were taken in three forest vegetational seasons, in two years. The impact of MPs on soil structure, chemistry, and microbial respiration (MR) was examined. Undisturbed soil columns from uncontaminated sites with added known MP particles were used to estimate the dynamic of MP transfer through the topsoil. Large aggregate formation, soil coarse sand content, specific mass, porosity, and available P, but not MR were affected by contamination. Seasonal and annual environmental changes significantly influenced the behavior of MPs in forest luvisols. MPs effectively penetrated the deeper layers of soil columns within 3 months, with strong accumulation in the 0–10 cm layer. soil plastic pollution; waste dumps in forests; microbial respiration; MP soil vertical dynamic 1552099 10.3390/f16020363 2025-02-18T07:04:29.828Z 44 no 46 Tara Grujić Institute of Soil Science 0000-0002-0122-6402 46 Elmira Saljnikov Institute of Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade 46 Dragosav Mutavdžić Institute of Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade 46 Marina Jovković Institute of Soil Science 0000-0001-7224-8556 46 Slobodan Stefanović Faculty for Applied Ecology “Futura”, Metropolitan University 46 Vladimir Miladinović Institute for Vegetable Crops Smederevska Palanka 46 Slobodan Krnjajić Institute of Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade 46 Snežana Belanović Simić Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade 46 Žaklina Marjanović Institute of Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade application/pdf 3455517 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:7041 no yes 1 70 92000001 71A05 Forests 2025