Network analysis has been used for many years in ecological research to analyze organismal associations, for example in food webs, plant-plant or plant-animal interactions. Although network analysis is widely applied in microbial ecology, only recently has it entered the realms of soil microbial ecology, shown by a rapid rise in studies applying co-occurrence analysis to soil microbial communities. While this application offers great potential for deeper insights into the ecological structure of soil microbial ecosystems, it also brings new challenges related to the specific characteristics of soil datasets and the type of ecological questions that can be addressed. In this Perspectives Paper we assess the challenges of applying network analysis to soil microbial ecology due to the small-scale heterogeneity of the soil environment and the nature of soil microbial datasets. We review the different approaches of network construction that are commonly applied to soil microbial datasets and discuss their features and limitations. Using a test dataset of microbial communities from two depths of a forest soil, we demonstrate how different experimental designs and network constructing algorithms affect the structure of the resulting networks, and how this in turn may influence ecological conclusions. We will also reveal how assumptions of the construction method, methods of preparing the dataset, and definitions of thresholds affect the network structure. Finally, we discuss the particular questions in soil microbial ecology that can be approached by analyzing and interpreting specific network properties. Targeting these network properties in a meaningful way will allow applying this technique not in merely descriptive, but in hypothesis-driven research.Projections of global\uffc2\uffa0rice yields\uffc2\uffa0account for climate change. They do not, however, consider the coupled stresses of impending climate change and arsenic in paddy soils. Here, we show in a greenhouse study that future conditions cause a greater proportion of pore-water arsenite, the more toxic form of arsenic, in the rhizosphere of Californian Oryza sativa L. variety M206, grown on Californian paddy soil. As a result, grain yields decrease by 39% compared to yields at today\uffe2\uff80\uff99s arsenic soil concentrations. In addition, future climatic conditions cause a nearly twofold increase of grain inorganic arsenic concentrations. Our findings indicate that climate-induced changes in soil arsenic behaviour and plant response will lead to currently unforeseen losses in rice grain productivity and quality. Pursuing rice varieties and crop management practices that alleviate the coupled stresses of soil arsenic and change in climatic factors are needed to overcome the currently impending food crisis.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Science", "Climate", "Q", "Oryza", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "Article", "6. Clean water", "Arsenic", "Soil", "Stress", " Physiological", "13. Climate action", "Rhizosphere", "8. Economic growth", "Soil Pollutants", "elevated temperature", " paddy", " arsenite", " arsenate", " microbial community", " soil", "Edible Grain", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12946-4.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12946-4"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Nature%20Communications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41467-019-12946-4", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41467-019-12946-4", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41467-019-12946-4"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-11-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:34Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2009-08-11", "title": "Grazing Triggers Soil Carbon Loss By Altering Plant Roots And Their Control On Soil Microbial Community", "description": "Summary1.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Depending on grazing intensity, grasslands tend towards two contrasting systems that differ in terms of species diversity and soil carbon (C) storage. To date, effects of grazing on C cycling have mainly been studied in grasslands subject to constant grazing regimes, whereas little is known for grasslands experiencing a change in grazing intensity. Analysing the transition between C\uffe2\uff80\uff90storing and C\uffe2\uff80\uff90releasing grasslands under low\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and high\uffe2\uff80\uff90grazing regimes, respectively, will help to identify key plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil interactions for C cycling.
2.\uffe2\uff80\uff82The transition was studied in a mesocosm experiment with grassland monoliths submitted to a change in grazing after 14\uffe2\uff80\uff83years of constant high and low grazing. Plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil interactions were analysed by following the dynamics of plant and microbial communities, roots and soil organic matter fractions over 2\uffe2\uff80\uff83years. After disturbance change, mesocosms were continuously exposed to13C\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled CO2, which allowed us to trace both the incorporation of new litter C produced by a modified plant community in soil and the fate of old unlabelled litter C.
3.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Changing disturbance intensity led to a cascade of events. After shift to high disturbance, photosynthesis decreased followed by a decline in root biomass and a change in plant community structure 1.5\uffe2\uff80\uff83months later. Those changes led to a decrease of soil fungi, a proliferation of Gram(+) bacteria and accelerated decomposition of old particulate organic C (<6\uffe2\uff80\uff83months). At last, accelerated decomposition released plant available nitrogen and decreased soil C storage. Our results indicate that intensified grazing triggers proliferation of Gram(+) bacteria and subsequent faster decomposition by reducing roots adapted to low disturbance.
4.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Synthesis. Plant communities exert control on microbial communities and decomposition through the activity of their living roots: slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90growing plants adapted to low disturbance reduce Gram(+) bacteria, decomposition of low and high quality litter, nitrogen availability and, thus, ingress of fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90growing plants. Our results indicate that grazing impacts on soil carbon storage by altering plant roots and their control on the soil microbial community and decomposition, and that these processes will foster decomposition and soil C loss in more productive and disturbed grassland systems.
", "keywords": ["580", "disturbance", "[SDE] Environmental Sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "decomposition", "[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "carbon cycling", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "matter", "[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]", "[SDV.EE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment", "nitrogen cycling", "13. Climate action", "[SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "ARISA", "[SDE]Environmental Sciences", "PLFA", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "grassland", "microbial community", "environment", "management", "particulate organic"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2009-08-11T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1080/00380768.2013.775004", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-04-16T16:17:51Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-08-01", "title": "Functional Diversity Of Soil Microbial Communities In Response To Tillage And Crop Residue Retention In An Eroded Loess Soil", "description": "Abstract This study reports the effects of a long-term tillage and crop residue experiment on the soil microbial ecology of a Loess soil located in Gansu Province, western China. Tillage and residue management treatments were imposed on a nine-year continuous rotation of maize (Zea mays L. cv Zhongdan No. 2), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Xifeng No. 24) and soybean (Glycine max L. cv Fengshou No. 12). After nine years, there were significant effects on topsoil (0\u201310\u00a0cm) carbon, nitrogen, microbial activity, microbial composition and function. The retention of crop residues compared to residue removal significantly improved all measures of chemical and biological soil fertility. The values of average well color development (AWCD), a measure of the metabolic utilization of organic compounds, for the residue retention treatments were always higher than those with residue removal treatments, and the differences increased with increasing incubation time. Principal component analysis indicated that crop...", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Loess Plateau", "residue retention", "050303 - Soil Biology", "no tillage", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Functional diversity", "microbial community", "15. Life on land", "630", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Yang, Qili, Wang, Xiaojuan, Shen, Yuying, Philp, Joshua N. (S27471),", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2013.775004"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Science%20and%20Plant%20Nutrition", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1080/00380768.2013.775004", "name": "item", "description": "10.1080/00380768.2013.775004", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1080/00380768.2013.775004"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-06-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1093/femsec/fiad145", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:01Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-11-09", "title": "Vegetation type, not the legacy of warming, modifies the response of microbial functional genes and greenhouse gas fluxes to drought in Oro-Arctic and alpine regions", "description": "AbstractClimate warming and summer droughts alter soil microbial activity, affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Arctic and alpine regions. However, the long-term effects of warming, and implications for future microbial resilience, are poorly understood. Using one alpine and three Arctic soils subjected to in situ long-term experimental warming, we simulated drought in laboratory incubations to test how microbial functional-gene abundance affects fluxes in three GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. We found that responses of functional gene abundances to drought and warming are strongly associated with vegetation type and soil carbon. Our sites ranged from a wet, forb dominated, soil carbon-rich systems to a drier, soil carbon-poor alpine site. Resilience of functional gene abundances, and in turn methane and carbon dioxide fluxes, was lower in the wetter, carbon-rich systems. However, we did not detect an effect of drought or warming on nitrous oxide fluxes. All gene\uffe2\uff80\uff93GHG relationships were modified by vegetation type, with stronger effects being observed in wetter, forb-rich soils. These results suggest that impacts of warming and drought on GHG emissions are linked to a complex set of microbial gene abundances and may be habitat-specific.Boreal forest soils store significant amounts of carbon and are cohabited by saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM). The \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99 implies antagonistic interactions between saprotrophic fungi and ECM. Plant photosynthates support the competitive fitness of the ECM, and may also shape the soil bacterial communities. Many \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99 experiments have focused on litter layer (OL) or have litter and root-fragments present, and thus possibly favor the saprotrophs. We compared how the restriction of plant roots and exudates affect soil microbial community structures in organic soil (mixed OF and OH). For this, we established a 3-yr field experiment with 3 different mesh treatments affecting the penetration of plant roots and external fungal hyphae. Exclusion of plant photosynthates induced modest changes in both fungal and bacterial community structures, but not to potential functionality of the microbial community. The microbial community was resilient towards rather short-term disturbances. Contrary to the \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99, mesh treatments restricting the entrance of plant roots and external fungal hyphae did not favor saprotrophs that originally inhabited the soil. Thus, we propose that different substrate preferences (fresh litter vs. fermented or humified soil), rather than antagonism, maintain the spatial separation of saprotrophs and mycorrhizal fungi in boreal forest soils.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Hyphae", "577", "Plant Roots", "ectomycorrhiza", "Trees", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "boreal forest soil", "Mycorrhizae", "Taiga", "saprotrophs", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Microbiota", "Fungi", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Gadgil effect", "Carbon", "functional gene profile", "13. Climate action", "ta1181", "microbial community"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://academic.oup.com/femsec/article-pdf/95/9/fiz133/29808832/fiz133.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiz133"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1093/femsec/fiz133", "name": "item", "description": "10.1093/femsec/fiz133", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1093/femsec/fiz133"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-08-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1093/jpe/rtac075", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:02Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-07-26", "title": "Effects of land use on soil microbial community structure and diversity in the Yellow River floodplain", "description": "AbstractSoil microorganisms and their diversity are important bioindicators of soil carbon and nutrient cycling. Land use type is a major determining factor that influences soil microbial community composition in floodplain ecosystems. However, how the structure and diversity of soil microbial communities respond to specific changes in land use, as well as the main drivers of these changes, are still unclear. This study was conducted in the Yellow River floodplain to examine the effects of land use type on soil microbial communities. Four land use types (shrubland, farmland, grassland and forest) were selected, wherein shrubland served as the baseline. We measured soil microbial structure and diversity using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). Land use type significantly affected total, bacterial and fungal PLFAs, and the gram-positive/negative bacterial PLFAs. Compared with shrubland, peanut farmland had higher total and bacterial PLFAs and forest had higher fungal PLFAs. Soil pH and phosphorus were the predominate drivers of microbial PLFAs, explaining 37% and 26% of the variability, respectively. Soil total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were the main factors increasing microbial community diversity. Peanut farmland had the highest soil carbon content, soil carbon stock, total PLFAs and microbial diversity, suggesting that farmland has great potential as a carbon sink. Our findings indicated that peanut farmland in the Yellow River floodplain is critical for maintaining soil microbial communities and soil carbon sequestration.
Drought periods are projected to become more severe and more frequent in many European regions. While effects of single strong droughts on plant and microbial carbon (C) dynamics have been studied in some detail, impacts of recurrent drought events are still little understood.
We tested whether the legacy of extreme experimental drought affects responses of plant and microbial C and nitrogen (N) turnover to further drought and rewetting. In a mountain grassland, we conducted a 13C pulse\uffe2\uff80\uff90chase experiment during a naturally occurring drought and rewetting event in plots previously exposed to experimental droughts and in ambient controls (AC). After labelling, we traced 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation and incorporation into soil microbes using phospholipid fatty acid biomarkers.
Drought history (DH) had no effects on the standing shoot and fine root plant biomass. However, plants with experimental DH displayed decreased shoot N concentrations and increased fine root N concentrations relative to those in AC. During the natural drought, plants with DH assimilated and allocated less 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground; moreover, fine root respiration was reduced and not fuelled by fresh C compared to plants in AC.
Regardless of DH, microbial biomass remained stable during natural drought and rewetting. Although microbial communities initially differed in their composition between soils with and without DH, they responded to the natural drought and rewetting in a similar way: gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive bacteria increased, while fungal and gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90negative bacteria remained stable. In soils with DH, a strongly reduced uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived 13C in microbial biomarkers was observed during the natural drought, pointing to a smaller fraction of active microbes or to a microbial community that is less dependent on plant C.
Synthesis. Drought history can induce changes in above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs. below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground plant N concentrations and affect the response of plant C turnover to further droughts and rewetting by decreasing plant C uptake and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation. DH does not affect the responses of the microbial community to further droughts and rewetting, but alters microbial functioning, particularly the turnover of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived carbon, during and after further drought periods.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "NITROGEN TURNOVER", "Biomass Allocation", "microbial community composition", "Negibacteria", "drought", "phospholipid fatty acid", "nitrogen", "Microbial community composition", "Plant\u2013Soil (Below\u2010ground) Interactions", "Recovery", "ROOT RESPIRATION", "Plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "CLIMATE EXTREMES", "C pulse labelling", "Below-ground carbon allocation", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "0303 health sciences", "SOIL INTERACTIONS", "below-ground carbon allocation", "C-13 pulse labelling", "Grassland", "6. Clean water", "Europe", "Phospholipid", "ORGANIC-MATTER", "Mountain Region", "Posibacteria", "DIOXIDE PULSES", "Phospholipid fatty acid", "106022 Microbiology", "Root/shoot Ratio", "Belowground Biomass", "Ecosystem Resilience", "Nitrogen", "Microbial Community", "Carbon Isotope", "Soil-vegetation Interaction", "recovery", "SUMMER DROUGHT", "03 medical and health sciences", "Rewetting", "Community Composition", "plant\u2013soil (below-ground) interactions", "WATER-STRESS", "resilience", "Drought", "Resilience", "RESILIENCE", "15. Life on land", "Turnover", "Microbial Activity", "13. Climate action", "Fatty Acid", "RESPONSES"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1365-2435.12329", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:13Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2014-09-05", "title": "Interactive Effects Of C, N And P Fertilization On Soil Microbial Community Structure And Function In An Amazonian Rain Forest", "description": "Summary
Resource control over abundance, structure and functional diversity of soil microbial communities is a key determinant of soil processes and related ecosystem functioning. Copiotrophic organisms tend to be found in environments which are rich in nutrients, particularly carbon, in contrast to oligotrophs, which survive in much lower carbon concentrations.
We hypothesized that microbial biomass, activity and community structure in nutrient\uffe2\uff80\uff90poor soils of an Amazonian rain forest are limited by multiple elements in interaction. We tested this hypothesis with a fertilization experiment by adding C (as cellulose), N (as urea) and P (as phosphate) in all possible combinations to a total of 40 plots of an undisturbed tropical forest in French Guiana.
After 2\uffc2\uffa0years of fertilization, we measured a 47% higher biomass, a 21% increase in substrate\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced respiration rate and a 5\uffe2\uff80\uff90fold higher rate of decomposition of cellulose paper discs of soil microbial communities that grew in P\uffe2\uff80\uff90fertilized plots compared to plots without P fertilization. These responses were amplified with a simultaneous C fertilization suggesting P and C colimitation of soil micro\uffe2\uff80\uff90organisms at our study site.
Moreover, P fertilization modified microbial community structure (PLFAs) to a more copiotrophic bacterial community indicated by a significant decrease in the Gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive\uffc2\uffa0:\uffc2\uffa0Gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90negative ratio. The Fungi\uffc2\uffa0:\uffc2\uffa0Bacteria ratio increased in N fertilized plots, suggesting that fungi are relatively more limited by N than bacteria. Changes in microbial community structure did not affect rates of general processes such as glucose mineralization and cellulose paper decomposition. In contrast, community level physiological profiles under P fertilization combined with either C or N fertilization or both differed strongly from all other treatments, indicating functionally different microbial communities.
While P appears to be the most critical from the three major elements we manipulated, the strongest effects were observed in combination with either supplementary C or N addition in support of multiple element control on soil microbial functioning and community structure.
We conclude that the soil microbial community in the studied tropical rain forest and the processes it drives is finely tuned by the relative availability in C, N and P. Any shifts in the relative abundance of these key elements may affect spatial and temporal heterogeneity in microbial community structure, their associated functions and the dynamics of C and nutrients in tropical ecosystems.
", "keywords": ["tropical forest", "2. Zero hunger", "570", "phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA)", "[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes", "functional significance", "[SDV.EE.IEO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment/Symbiosis", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "16. Peace & justice", "[SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "[SDE.MCG] Environmental Sciences/Global Changes", "13. Climate action", "microbial community structure", "ecosystem functioning", "environment/Symbiosis", "[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "[SDV.EE.ECO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment/Ecosystems", "[SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "multiple resource limitation", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "phosphorus", "environment/Ecosystems", "soil functioning"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12329"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Functional%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2435.12329", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2435.12329", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2435.12329"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2014-09-29T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1365-2745.14215", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:14Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-10-25", "title": "Defoliation and fertilisation differentially moderate root trait effects on soil abiotic and biotic properties", "description": "Abstract
Root functional traits are known to influence soil properties that underpin ecosystem functioning. Yet few studies have explored how root traits simultaneously influence physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, or how these responses are modified by common grassland perturbations that shape roots, such as defoliation and fertilisation.
Here, we explored how root traits of a wide range of grassland plant species with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (i.e. conservative vs. exploitative strategy plant species) respond to defoliation and fertilisation individually and in combination, and examined cascading impacts on a range of soil abiotic and biotic properties that underpin ecosystem functioning.
We found that the amplitude of the response of root traits to defoliation and fertilisation varied among plant species, in most cases independently of plant resource acquisition strategies. However, the direction of the root trait responses (increase or decrease) to perturbations was consistent across all plant species, with defoliation and fertilisation exerting opposing effects on root traits. Specific root length increased relative to non\uffe2\uff80\uff90perturbed control in response to defoliation, while root biomass, root mass density, and root length density decreased. Fertilisation induced the opposite responses. We also found that both defoliation and fertilisation individually enhanced the role of root traits in regulating soil biotic and abiotic properties, especially soil aggregate stability.
Synthesis: Our results indicate that defoliation and fertilisation, two common grassland perturbations, have contrasting impacts on root traits of grassland plant species, with direct and indirect short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term consequences for a wide range of soil abiotic and biotic properties that underpin ecosystem functioning.
", "keywords": ["Plant traits", "Soil nutrients", "0106 biological sciences", "Plant-soil interactions", "Growth strategy", "Soil microbial community", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Perturbations", "01 natural sciences", "Soil aggregates", "Research Articles"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14215"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.14215", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.14215", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.14215"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-10-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.16989", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:23Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-10-27", "title": "Shifts in soil ammonia\u2010oxidizing community maintain the nitrogen stimulation of nitrification across climatic conditions", "description": "AbstractAnthropogenic nitrogen (N) loading alters soil ammonia\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) abundances, likely leading to substantial changes in soil nitrification. However, the factors and mechanisms determining the responses of soil AOA:AOB and nitrification to N loading are still unclear, making it difficult to predict future changes in soil nitrification. Herein, we synthesize\uffc2\uffa068 field studies around the world to evaluate the impacts of N loading on soil ammonia oxidizers and nitrification. Across a wide range of biotic and abiotic factors, climate is the most important driver of the responses of AOA:AOB to N loading. Climate does not directly affect the N\uffe2\uff80\uff90stimulation of nitrification, but does so via climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90related shifts in AOA:AOB. Specifically, climate modulates the responses of AOA:AOB to N loading by affecting soil pH, N\uffe2\uff80\uff90availability and moisture. AOB play a dominant role in affecting nitrification in dry climates, while the impacts from AOA can exceed AOB in humid climates. Together, these results suggest that climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90related shifts in soil ammonia\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidizing community maintain the N\uffe2\uff80\uff90stimulation of nitrification, highlighting the importance of microbial community composition in mediating the responses of the soil N cycle to N loading.Forests play a crucial role in global carbon cycling by absorbing and storing significant amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Although boreal forests contribute to approximately 45% of the total forest carbon sink, tree growth and soil carbon sequestration are constrained by nutrient availability. Here, we examine if long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term nutrient input enhances tree productivity and whether this leads to carbon storage or whether stimulated microbial decomposition of organic matter limits soil carbon accumulation. Over six decades, nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium were supplied to a Pinus sylvestris\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated boreal forest. We found that nitrogen fertilization alone or together with calcium and/or phosphorus increased tree biomass production by 50% and soil carbon sequestration by 65% compared to unfertilized plots. However, the nonlinear relationship observed between tree productivity and soil carbon stock across treatments suggests microbial regulation. When phosphorus was co\uffe2\uff80\uff90applied with nitrogen, it acidified the soil, increased fungal biomass, altered microbial community composition, and enhanced biopolymer degradation capabilities. While no evidence of competition between ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi has been observed, key functional groups with the potential to reduce carbon stocks were identified. In contrast, when nitrogen was added without phosphorus, it increased soil carbon sequestration because microbial activity was likely limited by phosphorus availability. In conclusion, the addition of nitrogen to boreal forests may contribute to global warming mitigation, but this effect is context dependent.Climate warming is expected to have particularly strong effects on tundra and boreal ecosystems, yet relatively few studies have examined soil responses to temperature change in these systems. We used closed\uffe2\uff80\uff90top greenhouses to examine the response of soil respiration, nutrient availability, microbial abundance, and active fungal communities to soil warming in an Alaskan boreal forest dominated by mature black spruce. This treatment raised soil temperature by 0.5\uffe2\uff80\uff83\uffc2\uffb0C and also resulted in a 22% decline in soil water content. We hypothesized that microbial abundance and activity would increase with the greenhouse treatment. Instead, we found that bacterial and fungal abundance declined by over 50%, and there was a trend toward lower activity of the chitin\uffe2\uff80\uff90degrading enzymeN\uffe2\uff80\uff90acetyl\uffe2\uff80\uff90glucosaminidase. Soil respiration also declined by up to 50%, but only late in the growing season. These changes were accompanied by significant shifts in the community structure of active fungi, with decreased relative abundance of a dominant Thelephoroid fungus and increased relative abundance of Ascomycetes and Zygomycetes in response to warming. In line with our hypothesis, we found that warming marginally increased soil ammonium and nitrate availability as well as the overall diversity of active fungi. Our results indicate that rising temperatures in northern\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude ecosystems may not always cause a positive feedback to the soil carbon cycle, particularly in boreal forests with drier soils. Models of carbon cycle\uffe2\uff80\uff90climate feedbacks could increase their predictive power by incorporating heterogeneity in soil properties and microbial communities across the boreal zone.
", "keywords": ["nucleotide analog", "warming", "Ecology", "extracellular enzyme", "nitrogen availability", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Biological Sciences", "15. Life on land", "soil respiration", "Climate Action", "mycorrhizal fungi", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "boreal forest", "microbial community", "bacteria", "Environmental Sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt65m167kr/qt65m167kr.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01716.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01716.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01716.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01716.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2008-11-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-10-02", "title": "Thermal Adaptation Of Soil Microbial Respiration To Elevated Temperature", "description": "AbstractIn the short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term heterotrophic soil respiration is strongly and positively related to temperature. In the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term, its response to temperature is uncertain. One reason for this is because in field experiments increases in respiration due to warming are relatively short\uffe2\uff80\uff90lived. The explanations proposed for this ephemeral response include depletion of fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling, soil carbon pools and thermal adaptation of microbial respiration. Using a >\uffe2\uff80\uff8315\uffe2\uff80\uff83year soil warming experiment in a mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude forest, we show that the apparent \uffe2\uff80\uff98acclimation\uffe2\uff80\uff99 of soil respiration at the ecosystem scale results from combined effects of reductions in soil carbon pools and microbial biomass, and thermal adaptation of microbial respiration. Mass\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific respiration rates were lower when seasonal temperatures were higher, suggesting that rate reductions under experimental warming likely occurred through temperature\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced changes in the microbial community. Our results imply that stimulatory effects of global temperature rise on soil respiration rates may be lower than currently predicted.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Hot Temperature", "Physiological", "adaptation", "carbon cycling", "soil respiration", "01 natural sciences", "climate warming", "thermal biology", "Soil", "Biomass", "Adaptation", "Soil Microbiology", "Evolutionary Biology", "Ecology", "temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Biogeochemistry", "15. Life on land", "Adaptation", " Physiological", "Climate Action", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "Ecological Applications", "Regression Analysis", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "CO2", "Seasons", "microbial community", "Acclimation"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt1kz5j4pn/qt1kz5j4pn.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology%20Letters", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2008-11-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00318.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-04-18", "title": "Response Of Soil Microbial Biomass And Community Structures To Conventional And Organic Farming Systems Under Identical Crop Rotations", "description": "In this study the influence of different farming systems on microbial community structure was analyzed using soil samples from the DOK long-term field experiment in Switzerland, which comprises organic (BIODYN and BIOORG) and conventional (CONFYM and CONMIN) farming systems as well as an unfertilized control (NOFERT). We examined microbial communities in winter wheat plots at two different points in the crop rotation (after potatoes and after maize). Employing extended polar lipid analysis up to 244 different phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and phospholipid ether lipids (PLEL) were detected. Higher concentrations of PLFA and PLEL in BIODYN and BIOORG indicated a significant influence of organic agriculture on microbial biomass. Farmyard manure (FYM) application consistently revealed the strongest, and the preceding crop the weakest, influence on domain-specific biomass, diversity indices and microbial community structures. Esterlinked PLFA from slowly growing bacteria (k-strategists) showed the strongest responses to long-term organic fertilization. Although the highest fungal biomass was found in the two organic systems of the DOK field trial, their contribution to the differentiation of community structures according to the management regime was relatively low. Prokaryotic communities responded most strongly to either conventional or organic farming management.", "keywords": ["Crops", " Agricultural", "2. Zero hunger", "Nutrient turnover", "Agriculture", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Zea mays", "Soil quality", "Soil", "organic farming; DOK long-term field trial; microbial community; PLFA; PLEL", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "'Organics' in general", "Fertilizers", "Ecosystem", "Phospholipids", "Soil Microbiology", "Triticum", "Solanum tuberosum"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Espersch\u00fctz, J\u00fcrgen, Gattinger, Andreas, M\u00e4der, Paul, Schloter, Michael, Flie\u00dfbach, Andreas,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00318.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00318.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00318.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00318.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01192.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-09-01", "title": "Soil Characteristics More Strongly Influence Soil Bacterial Communities Than Land-Use Type", "description": "To gain insight into the factors driving the structure of bacterial communities in soil, we applied real-time PCR, PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoreses, and phylogenetic microarray approaches targeting the 16S rRNA gene across a range of different land usages in the Netherlands. We observed that the main differences in the bacterial communities were not related to land-use type, but rather to soil factors. An exception was the bacterial community of pine forest soils (PFS), which was clearly different from all other sites. PFS had lowest bacterial abundance, lowest numbers of operational taxonomic units (OTUs), lowest soil pH, and highest C : N ratios. C : N ratio strongly influenced bacterial community structure and was the main factor separating PFS from other fields. For the sites other than PFS, phosphate was the most important factor explaining the differences in bacterial communities across fields. Firmicutes were the most dominant group in almost all fields, except in PFS and deciduous forest soils (DFS). In PFS, Alphaproteobacteria was most represented, while in DFS, Firmicutes and Gammaproteobacteria were both highly represented. Interestingly, Bacillii and Clostridium OTUs correlated with pH and phosphate, which might explain their high abundance across many of the Dutch soils. Numerous bacterial groups were highly correlated with specific soil factors, suggesting that they might be useful as indicators of soil status.", "keywords": ["land use change", "DNA", " Bacterial", "0301 basic medicine", "RNA 16S", "polymerase chain reaction", "soil nitrogen", "DNA sequence", "soil microorganism", "electrokinesis", "chemistry", "phylogeny", "Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction", "soil", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "NIOO", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "genetics", "soil carbon", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology", "phosphate", "biodiversity", "Alphaproteobacteria", "Netherlands", "growth", " development and aging", "2. Zero hunger", "abundance", "0303 health sciences", "real time", "Bacteria", "pH", "Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis", "microbiology", "denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis", "Biodiversity", "Sequence Analysis", " DNA", "15. Life on land", "bacterium", "bacterial DNA", "phylogenetics", "classification", "real time polymerase chain reaction", "microbial community", "Gammaproteobacteria"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01192.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01192.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01192.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01192.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-09-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/jam.13606", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:43Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-10-09", "title": "Soil Microbiota Respond To Green Manure In Organic Vineyards", "description": "The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of biodynamic management with and without the addition of green manure, in comparison with organic management, on the microbiota in vineyards soil.High throughput sequencing was used to compare the taxonomic structure of the soil bacterial and fungal communities from vineyards managed with different methods (organic, biodynamic or biodynamic with green manure). Our results showed that microbial communities associated with biodynamic and organic farming systems were very similar, while green manure was the greatest source of soil microbial biodiversity and significantly changed microbial richness and community composition compared with other soils. Green manure also significantly enriched bacterial taxa involved in the soil nitrogen cycle (e.g. Microvirga sp., Pontibacter sp. and Nitrospira sp.).Our results showed that the diversity and composition of the microbial communities associated with biodynamic and organic farming systems were similar, indicating that the use of biodynamic preparations 500 and 501 did not cause any significant detectable changes to the soil microbial community in the short term, while the effects of green manure were significant in soil microbiota.The microbiological richness and structure of soil are used as a sensitive indicator of soil quality. The extension of organic/biodynamic farming, associated with green manure application, could contribute to increase the abundance of functional groups of biological and agronomical relevance and maintaining microbial biodiversity in vineyard soils.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "570", "Microbial diversity", "Organic Agriculture", "0303 health sciences", "bacteria; biodynamic vineyard; fungi; green manure; microbial community structure; microbial diversity; organic vineyard; soil microbiology; soil vineyard", "Microbiota", "Green manure", "Microbial community structure", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "630", "Manure", "Soil vineyard", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Soil microbiology", "13. Climate action", "Settore AGR/16 - MICROBIOLOGIA AGRARIA", "Vitis", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://iris.unitn.it/bitstream/11572/283669/1/jam.13606.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.13606"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Applied%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/jam.13606", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/jam.13606", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/jam.13606"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-11-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.12569", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:44Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-10-31", "title": "Experimental Drought Reduces The Transfer Of Recently Fixed Plant Carbon To Soil Microbes And Alters The Bacterial Community Composition In A Mountain Meadow", "description": "Summary
Drought affects plants and soil microorganisms, but it is still not clear how it alters the carbon (C) transfer at the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93microbial interface. Here, we tested direct and indirect effects of drought on soil microbes and microbial turnover of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived C in a mountain meadow.
Microbial community composition was assessed using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs); the allocation of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived C to microbial groups was analysed by pulse\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelling of canopy sections with 13CO2 and the subsequent tracing of the label into microbial PLFAs.
Microbial biomass was significantly higher in plots exposed to a severe experimental drought. In addition, drought induced a shift of the microbial community composition, mainly driven by an increase of Gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive bacteria. Drought reduced belowground C allocation, but not the transfer of recently plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90assimilated C to fungi, and in particular reduced tracer uptake by bacteria. This was accompanied by an increase of 13C in the extractable organic C pool during drought, which was even more pronounced after plots were mown.
We conclude that drought weakened the link between plant and bacterial, but not fungal, C turnover, and facilitated the growth of potentially slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90growing, drought\uffe2\uff80\uff90adapted soil microbes, such as Gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive bacteria.
", "keywords": ["Time Factors", "Nitrogen", "Mowing", "Mountain grassland", "Carbon Cycle", "Microbial community composition", "Soil", "Biomass", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "Carbon Isotopes", "Drought", "Research", "Microbiota", "Water", "Carbon allocation", "Microclimate", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Carbon", "6. Clean water", "Droughts", "C pulse-labelling", "13. Climate action", "Austria", "Phospholipid fatty acids", "106022 Microbiology", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12569"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/nph.12569", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/nph.12569", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/nph.12569"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-10-31T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1128/aem.69.3.1800-1809.2003", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2003-03-06", "title": "Soil Type Is The Primary Determinant Of The Composition Of The Total And Active Bacterial Communities In Arable Soils", "description": "ABSTRACTDegradation of agricultural land and the resulting loss of soil biodiversity and productivity are of great concern. Land-use management practices can be used to ameliorate such degradation. The soil bacterial communities at three separate arable farms in eastern England, with different farm management practices, were investigated by using a polyphasic approach combining traditional soil analyses, physiological analysis, and nucleic acid profiling. Organic farming did not necessarily result in elevated organic matter levels; instead, a strong association with increased nitrate availability was apparent. Ordination of the physiological (BIOLOG) data separated the soil bacterial communities into two clusters, determined by soil type. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses of 16S ribosomal DNA identified three bacterial communities largely on the basis of soil type but with discrimination for pea cropping. Five fields from geographically distinct soils, with different cropping regimens, produced highly similar profiles. The active communities (16S rRNA) were further discriminated by farm location and, to some degree, by land-use practices. The results of this investigation indicated that soil type was the key factor determining bacterial community composition in these arable soils. Leguminous crops on particular soil types had a positive effect upon organic matter levels and resulted in small changes in the active bacterial population. The active population was therefore more indicative of short-term management changes.
", "keywords": ["Polymerase Chain Reaction", "geography", "630", "1000 Technology", "Soil", "soil type", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "C500 - Microbiology", "genetic polymorphism", "soil analysis", "Bacteria (microorganisms)", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "article", "Agriculture", "Fabaceae", "Biodiversity", "legume", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Bacterial Typing Techniques", "microbial community", "Polymorphism", " Restriction Fragment Length", "0605 Microbiology", "Electrophoresis", "16S", "570", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "productivity", "RNA 16S", "soil microorganism", "0600 Biological Sciences", "DNA", " Ribosomal", "0700 Agricultural And Veterinary Sciences", "controlled study", "community composition", "Polymorphism", "Pisum sativum", "Ecosystem", "Ribosomal", "nonhuman", "Bacteria", "bacterial flora", "land use", "DNA", "15. Life on land", "bacterial disease", "Restriction Fragment Length", "C180 - Ecology", "physiology", "RNA", "Soils", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "bioavailability"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.69.3.1800-1809.2003"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Applied%20and%20Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1128/aem.69.3.1800-1809.2003", "name": "item", "description": "10.1128/aem.69.3.1800-1809.2003", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1128/aem.69.3.1800-1809.2003"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2003-03-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1186/s40168-018-0572-7", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:59Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-10-18", "title": "Consistent responses of soil microbial taxonomic and functional attributes to mercury pollution across China", "description": "The ecological consequences of mercury (Hg) pollution-one of the major pollutants worldwide-on microbial taxonomic and functional attributes remain poorly understood and largely unexplored. Using soils from two typical Hg-impacted regions across China, here, we evaluated the role of Hg pollution in regulating bacterial abundance, diversity, and co-occurrence network. We also investigated the associations between Hg contents and the relative abundance of microbial functional genes by analyzing the soil metagenomes from a subset of those sites.We found that soil Hg largely influenced the taxonomic and functional attributes of microbial communities in the two studied regions. In general, Hg pollution was negatively related to bacterial abundance, but positively related to the diversity of bacteria in two separate regions. We also found some consistent associations between soil Hg contents and the community composition of bacteria. For example, soil total Hg content was positively related to the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in both paddy and upland soils. In contrast, the methylmercury (MeHg) concentration was negatively correlated to the relative abundance of Nitrospirae in the two types of soils. Increases in soil Hg pollution correlated with drastic changes in the relative abundance of ecological clusters within the co-occurrence network of bacterial communities for the two regions. Using metagenomic data, we were also able to detect the effect of Hg pollution on multiple functional genes relevant to key soil processes such as element cycles and Hg transformations (e.g., methylation and reduction).Together, our study provides solid evidence that Hg pollution has predictable and significant effects on multiple taxonomic and functional attributes including bacterial abundance, diversity, and the relative abundance of ecological clusters and functional genes. Our results suggest an increase in soil Hg pollution linked to human activities will lead to predictable shifts in the taxonomic and functional attributes in the Hg-impacted areas, with potential implications for sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems and elsewhere.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "China", "550", "Co-occurrence network", "Firmicutes", "333", "12. Responsible consumption", "Microbial ecology", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "Soil Pollutants", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "Bacteroidetes", "Research", "Microbiota", "QR100-130", "Biodiversity", "Mercury", "Methylmercury Compounds", "15. Life on land", "Mercury pollution", "6. Clean water", "13. Climate action", "Soil microbial community", "Metagenome", "Metagenomics", "Functional gene", "Environmental Pollution", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0572-7"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Microbiome", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1186/s40168-018-0572-7", "name": "item", "description": "10.1186/s40168-018-0572-7", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1186/s40168-018-0572-7"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-10-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:18:59Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-03-02", "title": "Impact of process temperature and organic loading rate on cellulolytic / hydrolytic biofilm microbiomes during biomethanation of ryegrass silage revealed by genome-centered metagenomics and metatranscriptomics", "description": "Abstract BackgroundAnaerobic digestion (AD) of protein-rich grass silage was performed in experimental two-stage two-phase biogas reactor systems at low vs. increased organic loading rates (OLRs) under mesophilic (37\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb0C) and thermophilic (55\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb0C) temperatures. To follow the adaptive response of the biomass-attached cellulolytic/hydrolytic biofilms at increasing ammonium/ammonia contents, genome-centered metagenomics and transcriptional profiling based on metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) were conducted.
ResultsIn total, 78 bacterial and archaeal MAGs representing the most abundant members of the communities, and featuring defined quality criteria were selected and characterized in detail. Determination of MAG abundances under the tested conditions by mapping of the obtained metagenome sequence reads to the MAGs revealed that MAG abundance profiles were mainly shaped by the temperature but also by the OLR. However, the OLR effect was more pronounced for the mesophilic systems as compared to the thermophilic ones. In contrast, metatranscriptome mapping to MAGs subsequently normalized to MAG abundances showed that under thermophilic conditions, MAGs respond to increased OLRs by shifting their transcriptional activities mainly without adjusting their proliferation rates. This is a clear difference compared to the behavior of the microbiome under mesophilic conditions. Here, the response to increased OLRs involved adjusting of proliferation rates and corresponding transcriptional activities. The analysis led to the identification of MAGs positively responding to increased OLRs. The most outstanding MAGs in this regard, obviously well adapted to higher OLRs and/or associated conditions, were assigned to the order Clostridiales (Acetivibrio sp.) for the mesophilic biofilm and the orders Bacteroidales (Prevotella sp. and an unknown species), Lachnospirales (Herbinix sp. and Kineothrix sp.) and Clostridiales (Clostridium sp.) for the thermophilic biofilm. Genome-based metabolic reconstruction and transcriptional profiling revealed that positively responding MAGs mainly are involved in hydrolysis of grass silage, acidogenesis and / or\uffc2\uffa0acetogenesis.
ConclusionsAn integrated -omics approach enabled the identification of new AD biofilm keystone species featuring outstanding performance under stress conditions such as increased OLRs. Genome-based knowledge on the metabolic potential and transcriptional activity of responsive microbiome members will contribute to the development of improved microbiological AD management strategies for biomethanation of renewable biomass.
", "keywords": ["Integrated -omics", "Bioconversion", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "Polyomics", "Integrated-omics", "Biogas", "Microbiology", "7. Clean energy", "03 medical and health sciences", "Anaerobic digestion", "GE1-350", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Metagenome assembled genomes", "Microbial community structure", "15. Life on land", "QR1-502", "6. Clean water", "3. Good health", "Environmental sciences", "Metagenome assembled genomes", " Integrated -omics", " Polyomics", " Anaerobic digestion", " Biogas", " Bioconversion", " Microbial community structure", " Methane", " Metabolic activity", "13. Climate action", "Metabolic activity", "Methane", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiome", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1186/s40793-020-00354-x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-03-02T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Microbial+community&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Microbial+community&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Microbial+community&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "next", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (next)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Microbial+community&offset=50", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 90, "numberReturned": 50, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-04-17T05:41:07.635194Z"}