Microplastics and nanoplastics are distributed in the environments universally. The interrelationship between vascular plants and micro/nanoplastics began to attract attention in recent years. Based on the relevant literatures collected from various databases, this review focuses on two topics: 1) the effect of vascular plants on the fate of micro/nanoplastics; 2) the effects of micro/nanoplastics on vascular plants. The review of the available studies reveals that vascular plants can act as sinks for microplastics and nanoplastics as their surfaces can adsorb these plastics; moreover, nanoplastics can be internalized by plants. Plastics on the surfaces and in the interiors of vascular plants can cause various phytotoxicity effects, including impacts on growth, photosynthesis, and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the results and mechanisms of phytotoxicity effects caused by microplastics or nanoplastics can be very different. However, knowledge gaps still exist in the relationships between micro/nanoplastics and vascular plants based on the analysis of available studies; thus, potential subjects for future studies were proposed, including the fates, analysis methods, influencing factors, mechanisms of phytotoxicity, and further influences of microplastics and nanoplastics in the vascular plant ecosystems. This study presents a review of micro/nanoplastics–vascular plant research and reaches a basis for future research.

Research on the interaction of microplastics and aquatic organisms has been mainly focused on the evaluation of various impacts on animals while aquatic vascular plants have been so far understudied. In this commentary, we summarized knowledge about interactions of microplastics with aquatic vascular plants and highlighted potential ecological implications. Based on recent research, microplastics have minimal impacts on plants. However, they are strongly attracted to plant tissues, adsorbed, and accumulated by plants. Several mechanisms drive microplastics adsorption and accumulation; the most possibly electrostatic forces, leaf morphology, and presence of periphyton belong among the most important ones. Adsorbed microplastics on plant tissues are easily ingested by herbivores. Plants can thus represent a viable pathway for microplastics to enter aquatic food webs. On the other hand, the strong interactions of microplastics with plants could be used for their phytostabilization and final removal from the environment. Aquatic vascular plants have thus an important role in the behavior and fate of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, and therefore, they should also be included in the future microplastic research.

An ecological impact assessment of four herbicides (atrazine, diuron, paraquat and simazine) was assessed using the aquatic floating vascular plants, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor and Lemna paucicostata as test organisms. The sensitivity of several ecologically relevant parameters (increase in frond area, root length after regrowth, maximum and effective quantum yield of PSII and maximum electron transport rate (ETRmax), were compared after a 72 h exposure to herbicides. The present test methods require relatively small sample volume (3 mL), shorter exposure times (72 h), simple and quick analytical procedures as compared with standard Lemna assays. Sensitivity ranking of endpoints, based on EC50 values, differed depending on the herbicide. The most toxic herbicides were diuron and paraquat and the most sensitive endpoints were root length (6.0–12.3 μg L−1) and ETRmax (4.7–10.3 μg L−1) for paraquat and effective quantum yield (6.8–10.4 μg L−1) for diuron. Growth and chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters in all three Lemna species were sensitive enough to detect toxic levels of diuron and paraquat in water samples in excess of allowable concentrations set by international standards. CV values of all EC50s obtained from the Lemna tests were in the range of 2.8–24.33%, indicating a high level of repeatability comparable to the desirable level of <30% for adoption of toxicity test methods as international standards. Our new Lemna methods may provide useful information for the assessment of toxicity risk of residual herbicides in aquatic ecosystems.

Fen plant growth in peat contaminated with groundwater discharges of oil sands process water (OSPW) was assessed in a greenhouse over two growing seasons. Three treatments (non-diluted OSPW, diluted OSPW and rainwater) were tested on five vascular plants and four mosses. All vascular plants tested can grow in salinity and naphthenic acids levels currently produced by oil sands activity in northwestern Canada. No stress sign was observed after both seasons. Because of plant characteristics, Carex species (C. atherodes and C. utriculata) and Triglochin maritima would be more useful for rapidly restoring vegetation and creating a new peat-accumulating system. Groundwater discharge of OSPW proved detrimental to mosses under dry conditions and ensuring adequate water levels would be crucial in fen creation following oil sands exploitation. Campylium stellatum would be the best choice to grow in contaminated areas and Bryum pseudotriquetrum might be interesting as it has spontaneously regenerated in all treatments.

Since lichens lack roots and take up water, solutes and gases over the entire thallus surface, these organisms respond more sensitively to changes in atmospheric purity than vascular plants. After centuries where effects of sulphur dioxide and acidity were in the focus of research on atmospheric chemistry and lichens, recently the globally increased levels of ammonia and nitrate increasingly affect lichen vegetation and gave rise to intense research on the tolerance of lichens to nitrogen pollution. The present paper discusses the main findings on the uptake of ammonia and nitrate in the lichen symbiosis and to the tolerance of lichens to eutrophication. Ammonia and nitrate are both efficiently taken up under ambient conditions. The tolerance to high nitrogen levels depends, among others, on the capability of the photobiont to provide sufficient amounts of carbon skeletons for ammonia assimilation. Lowly productive lichens are apparently predisposed to be sensitive to excess nitrogen.

Much attention is currently paid to microplastic (MP) pollution, particularly in marine systems. There is increasing concern regarding the potential toxicity of MPs to organisms at the physiological and morphological levels. However, little is known about the impact of MPs on aquatic life, despite their ubiquitous presence in freshwater ecosystems. In this study, the aquatic plant Utricularia vulgaris was exposed to 1, 2 and 5 μm polystyrene fluorescent MP particles at concentrations of 15, 70 and 140 mg/L for 7 days. The toxic effects of MPs on the growth rate and morphological and physiological characteristics of U. vulgaris were assessed. The results showed that the relative growth rates and the functional traits of leaves (morphological and photosynthetic) were significantly inhibited at a high concentration of MP particles (140 mg/L) when compared to the control group. The impacts on growth performance were likely due to bioaccumulation of MPs in the bladders, as shown by confocal microscopy. Furthermore, the antioxidative enzyme activities showed that high concentrations of MPs induce high ecotoxicity and oxidative damage to U. vulgaris. Thus, U. vulgaris has the potential to be an excellent bioindicator of MP pollution in freshwater ecosystems and should further be applied in ecological risk assessments of the effects of MPs on higher aquatic plants.

Seagrasses are among the most productive shallow water ecosystems, serving a diverse assemblage of fish and invertebrates. Tropical seagrass communities are dominated by the turtle grass Thalassia testudinum, whose wide, flattened blades host diverse epibiont communities. Amidst its epibionts, T. testudinum may also be accumulating microplastics, which are a ubiquitous marine pollutant even in remote locales. To assess the extent of microplastic accumulation, seagrass samples were collected from Turneffe Atoll, which lies offshore but parallel with a major urban center. Seventy-five percent of Thalassia blades had encrusted microplastics, with microfibers occurring more than microbeads and chips by a ratio of 59:14. Grazers consumed seagrasses with higher densities of epibionts. Potential mechanisms for microplastic accumulation include entrapment by epibionts, or attachment via biofilms. This study is the first to document microplastics on marine vascular plants, suggesting that macroherbivory is a viable pathway for microplastic pollution to enter marine food webs.

Peninsular Malaysia has gone through fast development during recent decades resulting in the release of large amounts of petroleum and its products into the environment. Aliphatic hydrocarbons are one of the major components of petroleum. Surface sediment samples were collected from five rivers along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and analyzed for aliphatic hydrocarbons. The total concentrations of C10 to C36 n-alkanes ranged from 27,945 to 254,463ng·g−1dry weight (dw). Evaluation of various n-alkane indices such as carbon preference index (CPI; 0.35 to 3.10) and average chain length (ACL; 26.74 to 29.23) of C25 to C33 n-alkanes indicated a predominance of petrogenic source n-alkanes in the lower parts of the Rivers, while biogenic origin n-alkanes from vascular plants are more predominant in the upper parts, especially in less polluted areas. Petrogenic sources of n-alkanes are predominantly heavy and degraded oil versus fresh oil inputs.

Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes, are highly threatened by increasing anthropic pressures, including chemical pollution. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have attracted attention in these particularly vulnerable ecosystems, due to their bioaccumulative, pervasive, and ecotoxic behavior. This article reviews and summarizes available information regarding current levels, biogeochemical cycling, and effects of POPs on coastal wetlands. Sediment POP levels were compared with international quality guidelines, revealing many areas where compounds could cause damage to biota. Despite this, toxicological studies on some coastal wetland plants and microorganisms showed a high tolerance to those levels. These taxonomic groups are likely to play a key role in the cycling of the POPs, with an active role in their accumulation, immobilization, and degradation. Toxicity and biogeochemical processes varied markedly along three main axes; namely species, environmental conditions, and type of pollutant. While more focused research on newly and unintentionally produced POPs is needed, mainly in salt marshes and seagrass beds, with the information available so far, the environmental behavior, spatial distribution, and toxicity level of the studied POPs showed similar patterns across the three studied ecosystems.

Under low nitrogen (N) input into rain-fed peat bogs, Sphagnum moss efficiently filters incoming N, preventing invasion of vascular plants and peat oxygenation. Elevated atmospheric N deposition, in combination with climatic warming, may cause retreat of bryophytes and degradation of peat deposits. There are concerns that higher emissions of greenhouse gases, accompanying peat thinning, will accelerate global warming. Breakthrough of deposited N below living moss has been quantified for two Central European peat bogs dominated by Sphagnum magellanicum. In the 1990s, the northern site, ZL, received three times more atmospheric N (> 40 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) than the southern site, BS. Today, atmospheric N inputs at both sites are comparable (15 and 11 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively). Replicated peat cores were collected from the wet central segments of both study sites, ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻ tracer was applied on the moss surface, and the peat cores were incubated under water-logged conditions. After 40 weeks, the rate of downcore leaching of the ¹⁵N tracer was assessed. The recent history of high N pollution at ZL did not accelerate ¹⁵N penetration into deeper peat layers, relative to BS. At both sites, less than 3% of the ¹⁵N tracer reached the shallow depth of 9 cm. Analysis of control peat cores, along with a ²¹⁰Pb chronology, revealed removal of the “excess” N from the ZL peat profiles prior to sampling. Following a decrease of atmospheric N pollution in the past two decades, efficient filtering of atmospheric N by Sphagnum at ZL has been renewed.