Determinants of environmental changes in human-modified ecosystems: Effects of plastics on moisture gradients, nutrients, and clay properties.

Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to ecosystem health worldwide. This study examines the determinants of environmental changes in human-modified ecosystems through a quantitative-qualitative system dynamics modeling approach: field experiments conducted on a 310 m unsaturated clay-rich bed and a 2.5 m clay-rich shore of a plastic-impacted pond in Shenzhen, China, and a 1.