Assessing the Effect of Temperature on the Biodegradation Dynamics of Biodegradable Mulch Films in Laboratory Soil Incubations

Mulch films are widely used in modern agriculture due to their many benefits, including extension of the growing season, control on weeds, and saving irrigation water. Biodegradable mulch films (BDMs) — films containing one or more polymer(s) that can be fully metabolically utilized by soil microorganisms to form CO₂ and microbial biomass — are considered a viable substitute to conventionally used, environmentally persistent polyethylene films that accumulate in soils over time if not completely removed after harvest. The European Norm for BDMs (EN 17033:2018) stipulates laboratory incubations at 20-28°C to test biodegradation of BDMs for certification. However, to comprehend and predict the fate of BDMs in situ in field soils, it is crucial to understand how temperatures (and variations thereof in the field) affect biodegradation dynamics. Research on this subject is currently limited. In the work presented here, we systematically assess the effect of temperature on the biodegradation dynamics of three commercially available BDMs which are mainly composed of the biodegradable polyesters poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and polylactic acid (PLA). Laboratory soil incubations were conducted at four environmentally relevant temperatures (i.e., 5, 15, 25, and 35°C) across three different agricultural soils over a two-year period. The biodegradation extents were monitored by quantifying residual PBAT and PLA in the soils at five specific timepoints by Soxhlet extraction of the polymers from the soils combined with polymer quantification using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis (¹H-NMR). The results show that the biodegradation of both PBAT and PLA is substantially affected by temperature, with a general trend of higher temperatures leading to increased biodegradation rates and extents. In the case of PLA, increasing temperature consistently increased biodegradation across all tested soils and BDMs. PBAT exhibited similar trends, except for one soil, in which the highest temperature (35°C) did not result in the highest PBAT biodegradation extents. The differences between PLA and PBAT likely reflect their distinct primary hydrolysis pathways — enzymatic hydrolysis for PBAT and abiotic hydrolysis for PLA — as well as differences in the presence and activity of polymer-specific microbial degraders between the soils. The results of modeling efforts will be presented that aim to further clarify the temperature effects on biodegradation rates and assess the extent to which these dynamics can be captured by temperature-reactivity relationships, such as the Arrhenius rate law. The results of this work will provide a basis towards predicting the effects of temperature on in situ field biodegradation rates, using laboratory incubations at temperatures of 20-28°C (as specified by the European Norm for BDMs (EN 17033:2018)) as a basis.