Resource acquisition and growth yield are fundamental traits of microorganisms that have consequences for ecosystem functioning. However, there is a lack of empirical observations linking these traits. Using a landscape-scale survey of temperate near-neutral pH soils, we show tradeoffs in key community-level parameters linked to these traits. Increased investment into extracellular enzymes was associated with reduced growth yield; this reduction was linked more to carbon than nitrogen acquisition enzymes suggesting smaller stoichiometric constraints on community metabolism in examined soils.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.Meta-analyses suggest a global potential of cover crops to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, yet with a large variation across studies, which underlines the need to understand the effect of cover crops on carbon (C) sequestration under specific soil and climate conditions. We studied the C sequestration potential from cover crops, based on a Danish long-term field experiment (LTE) initiated in 1997, where SOC and C in the fractions of particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral associated organic matter (MAOM) was measured to 1-m depth. Next, we performed a mesocosm study where the fate of 14C-labeled cover crop residues (fodder radish, Raphanus sativus L.) and SOC priming were traced in two texturally similar soils from the LTE with different SOC concentrations (2.0 vs. 2.6% SOC). The results showed that cover cropping for up two decades had negligible effect on SOC in POM and MAOM fractions. Yet, the mesocosm study showed considerable overall SOC increases (20\u201325% of added C) when the cover crop C input exceeded rates of 0.2\u20130.3 mg C g\u22121 in the two soils. This was due to a combination of new SOC formation and priming effects shifting from positive to negative. The input rates of 0.2\u20130.3 mg C g\u22121 correspond to the C input from cover crops with an aboveground yield of approximately 0.7\u20131.1 Mg dry matter ha\u22121, which is a level not always achieved at the field site. The combined observations from the field and mesocosm study suggest that SOC buildup was not constrained by soil C saturation, but rather by low cover crop productivity and/or positive priming effects. Therefore, agricultural management practices (e.g., species choice and sowing time) should be adopted to achieve a sufficient cover crop C input to secure that the positive priming effect is not exceeding the rate of SOC formation.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Carbon sequestration", "Cover crops", "Particulate organic matter", "Mineral associated organic matter", "Priming effects", "15. Life on land"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109110"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Biology%20and%20Biochemistry", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109110", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109110", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109110"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-09-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.still.2004.08.002", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:17:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2004-12-15", "title": "Long-Term Soil Management Effects On Crop Yields And Soil Quality In A Dryland Alfisol", "description": "Abstract A long-term experiment was conducted with the objective of selecting the appropriate land management treatments and to identify the key indicators of soil quality for dryland semi-arid tropical Alfisols. The experiment was conducted using a strip split\u2013split plot design on an Alfisol (Typic Haplustalf) in southern India under sorghum (Sorghum vulgare (L))-castor (Ricinus communis (L)) bean rotation. The strip constituted two tillage treatments: conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT); main plots were three residues treatments: sorghum stover (SS), gliricidia loppings (GL), \u2018no\u2019 residue (NR) and sub plots were four nitrogen levels: 0 (N0), 30 (N30), 60 (N60), and 90\u00a0kg\u00a0ha\u22121 (N90). Soil samples were collected after the sixth and seventh year of experimentation and were analyzed for physical, chemical and biological parameters. Sustainable yield index (SYI) based on long-term yield data and soil quality index (SQI) using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear scoring functions were calculated. Application of gliricidia loppings proved superior to sorghum stover and no residue treatments in maintaining higher SQI values. Further, increasing N levels also helped in maintaining higher SQI. Among the 24 treatments, the SQI ranged from 0.90 to 1.27. The highest SQI was obtained in CTGLN90 (1.27) followed by CTGLN60 (1.19) and MTSSN90 (1.18), while the lowest was under MTNRN30 (0.90) followed by MTNRN0 (0.94), indicating relatively less aggradative effects. The application of 90\u00a0kg\u00a0N\u00a0ha\u22121 under minimum tillage even without applying any residue (MTNRN90) proved quite effective in maintaining soil quality index as high as 1.10. The key indicators, which contributed considerably towards SQI, were available N, K, S, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and hydraulic conductivity (HC). On average, the order of relative contribution of these indicators towards SQI was: available N (32%), MBC (31%), available K (17%), HC (16%), and S (4%). Among the various treatments, CTGLN90 not only had the highest SQI, but also the most promising from the viewpoint of sustainability, maintaining higher average yield levels under sorghum\u2013castor rotation. From the view point of SYI, CT approach remained superior to MT. To maintain the yield as well as soil quality in Alfisols, primary tillage along with organic residue and nitrogen application are needed.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Biswapati Mandal, J. Kusuma Grace, V. Ramesh, K. L. Sharma, K. P. R. Vittal, K. Srinivas, U.K. Mandal,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2004.08.002"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20and%20Tillage%20Research", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.still.2004.08.002", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.still.2004.08.002", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.still.2004.08.002"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2005-09-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109121", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:17:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-07-04", "title": "When dry soil is re-wet, trehalose is respired instead of supporting microbial growth", "description": "When dry soil is re-wet there is a rapid increase in CO2 efflux and rates can remain above those of well-watered controls for one or more days. These large pulses of CO2 efflux are known as the `Birch effect. To provide experimental evidence of different pools of C fuelling the Birch effect, we incubated a drying soil with 13C6glucose, re wet the soil and quantified 13C labelling of pools (microbial biomass, trehalose, extracellular, and old C) and soil CO2 efflux. We took advantage of trehalose being the most 13C-enriched pool (& delta;13C = +518%o) to obtain direct isotopic evidence of trehalose's contribution to respiration and microbial growth. For soil incubated with 13C6-glucose, the & delta;13C of soil respiration was +35%o in dry soil, increased to 100%o in the 10 min following rewetting, and subsequently decreased. During the first 5 h after re-wetting, trehalose must have been contributing to respiration given that & delta;13C of soil respiration was more 13C enriched than trehalose-free microbial biomass (& delta;13C = +30%o), extracellular C (& delta;13C = -17.7%o), and old C (& delta;13C = -22.9%o). A four-member isotopic mixing model suggested trehalose underpinned 16% of respiration in the 1st hour after rewetting, decreasing to 7% in the fifth hour. At times beyond 5 h after rewetting, trehalose underpinned 0-4% of respiration. In the seven days following rewetting, microbial biomass increased 2292 nmol C g-1. Isotopic mass balance indicated trehalose-C could account for no more than 5% of the gross influx of C into microbial biomass, instead the increase in microbial biomass was fuelled by unlabelled or weakly labelled pools such as old C and extracellular C. Collectively these data provide direct experimental evidence C from trehalose does not significantly contribute to microbial growth in re-wet soil, but instead contributes to respiration for the first 5 h after rewetting.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Ekologi", "Mass spectrometry", "Ecology", "Isotope", "Osmolyte", "Trehalose", "Jordbruk", " skogsbruk och fiske", "Birch effect", "Soil respiration", "Agriculture", " Forestry and Fisheries", "6. Clean water"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109121"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Biology%20and%20Biochemistry", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109121", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109121", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109121"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-09-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109259", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:17:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-12-01", "title": "A pulse of simulated root exudation alters the composition and temporal dynamics of microbial metabolites in its immediate vicinity", "description": "Root exudation increases the concentration of readily available carbon (C) compounds in its immediate environment. This creates \u2018hotspots\u2019 of microbial activity characterized by accelerated soil organic matter turnover with direct implications for nutrient availability for plants. However, our knowledge of the microbial metabolic processes occurring in the immediate vicinity of roots during and after a root exudation event is still limited.