Microplastics persist in an arable soil but do not affect carbon cycling and crop yield

We provide reproducible R-codes and data sets accompanying the research article "Microplastics persist in an arable soil but do not affect carbon cycling and crop yield". This study aimed to better understand the fate and effects of microplastics (MP) on carbon (C) cycling in arable soils. We established a field experiment (1) to investigate MP background concentrations, (2) to quantify concentrations of added MP (low-density polyethylene [LDPE]) and biodegradable MP (blend of polylactide and polybutylene adipate terephtalate [PLA/PBAT]) after one and 17 months of addition, and (3) to identify potential interactions of MP with organic fertilizers on C cycling and crop yield. We expected that the arable soil had a low but significant background MP loading (before setup), that biodegradable MP (PLA/PBAT) would become fragmented, and that conventional MP (LDPE) would persist and not be altered. We organized research data and analyses in two folders ("MPAnalytics" and "CarbonCycling&CropYields"). "MPAnalytics" contains all data on MP concentrations in the arable soil, while "CarbonCycling&CropYields" contains data on soil enzymes involved in C cycling, microbial carbon and nitrogen, and crop yields. See the README.html file for details on the data sets and instructions on how to run the R codes.