{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.003", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:16:35Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-03-15", "title": "Effects Of Biochar And Greenwaste Compost Amendments On Mobility, Bioavailability And Toxicity Of Inorganic And Organic Contaminants In A Multi-Element Polluted Soil", "description": "Applying amendments to multi-element contaminated soils can have contradictory effects on the mobility, bioavailability and toxicity of specific elements, depending on the amendment. Trace elements and PAHs were monitored in a contaminated soil amended with biochar and greenwaste compost over 60 days field exposure, after which phytotoxicity was assessed by a simple bio-indicator test. Copper and As concentrations in soil pore water increased more than 30 fold after adding both amendments, associated with significant increases in dissolved organic carbon and pH, whereas Zn and Cd significantly decreased. Biochar was most effective, resulting in a 10 fold decrease of Cd in pore water and a resultant reduction in phytotoxicity. Concentrations of PAHs were also reduced by biochar, with greater than 50% decreases of the heavier, more toxicologically relevant PAHs. The results highlight the potential of biochar for contaminated land remediation.", "keywords": ["04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "01 natural sciences", "United Kingdom", "6. Clean water", "Trace Elements", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Metals", " Heavy", "Lolium", "Soil Pollutants", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Adsorption", "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons", "Environmental Restoration and Remediation", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.003"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Pollution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.003", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.003", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.02.003"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-06-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.envpol.2006.12.018", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:16:35Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-02-21", "title": "Effects Of Metals On Life Cycle Parameters Of The Earthworm Eisenia Fetida Exposed To Field-Contaminated, Metal-Polluted Soils", "description": "Two control and eight field-contaminated, metal-polluted soils were inoculated with Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826). Three, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 42 days after inoculation, earthworm survival, body weight, cocoon production and hatching rate were measured. Seventeen metals were analysed in E. fetida tissue, bulk soil and soil solution. Soil organic carbon content, texture, pH and cation exchange capacity were also measured. Cocoon production and hatching rate were more sensitive to adverse conditions than survival or weight change. Soil properties other than metal concentration impacted toxicity. The most toxic soils were organic-poor (1-10 g C kg(-1)), sandy soils (c. 74% sand), with intermediate metal concentrations (e.g. 7150-13,100 mg Pb kg(-1), 2970-53,400 mg Zn kg(-1)). Significant relationships between soil properties and the life cycle parameters were determined. The best coefficients of correlation were generally found for texture, pH, Ag, Cd, Mg, Pb, Tl, and Zn both singularly and in multivariate regressions. Studies that use metal-amended artificial soils are not useful to predict toxicity of field multi-contaminated soils.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Hazardous Waste", "Silver", "Reproduction", "Body Weight", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Hydrogen-Ion Concentration", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "Mining", "United Kingdom", "6. Clean water", "Zinc", "Lead", "13. Climate action", "Metals", " Heavy", "Toxicity Tests", " Acute", "Animals", "Soil Pollutants", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Magnesium", "Oligochaeta", "Thallium", "Cadmium", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2006.12.018"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Pollution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.envpol.2006.12.018", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.envpol.2006.12.018", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.envpol.2006.12.018"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-09-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.029", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:17:17Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-10-19", "title": "The Effects Of Phytophagous Insects On Water And Soil Nutrient Concentrations And Fluxes Through Forest Stands Of The Level Ii Monitoring Network In The Uk", "description": "The effects of insect defoliators on throughfall and soil nutrient fluxes were studied in coniferous and deciduous stands at five UK intensive monitoring plots (1998 to 2008). Links were found between the dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fluxes through the forest system to biological activity within the canopy. Underlying soil type determined the leaching or accumulation of these elements. Under oak, monitored at two sites, frass from caterpillars of Tortrix viridana and Operophtera brumata added direct deposition of ~16kgha(-1)extra N during defoliation. Peaks of nitrate (NO(3)-N) flux between 5 and 9kgha(-1) (\u00d75 usual winter values) were recorded in consecutive years in shallow soil waters. Synchronous rises in deep soil NO(3)-N fluxes at the Grizedale sandy site indicate downward flushing, not seen at the clay site. Under three Sitka spruce stands, generation of honeydew (DOC) was attributed to two aphid species (Elatobium abietinum and Cinara pilicornis) with distinctive feeding strategies. Throughfall DOC showed mean annual fluxes (6 seasons) ~45-60kgha(-1) compared with rainfall values of 14-22kgha(-1). Increases of total N in throughfall and NO(3)-N fluxes in shallow soil solution were detected - soil water fluxes reached 8kgha(-1) in Llyn Brianne, ~25kgha(-1) in Tummel, and ~40kg NO(3)-Nha(-1) in Coalburn. At Tummel, on sandy soil, NO(3)-N leaching showed increased concentration at depth, attributed to microbiological activity within the soil. By contrast, at Coalburn and Llyn Brianne, sites on peaty gleys, soil water NO(3)-N was retained mostly within the humus layer. Soil type is thus key to predicting N movement and retention patterns. These long term analyses show important direct and indirect effects of phytophagous insects in forest ecosystems, on above and below ground processes affecting tree growth, soil condition, vegetation and water quality.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Insecta", "Nitrogen", "Fresh Water", "Nitrogen Cycle", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "United Kingdom", "Trees", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Animals", "Soil Pollutants", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.029"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Science%20of%20The%20Total%20Environment", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.029", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.029", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.029"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:18:18Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-08-29", "title": "Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes", "description": "Abstract

Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil\uffe2\uff80\uff93atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.Environmental factors relating to soil pH are widely known to be important in structuring soil bacterial communities, yet the relationship between taxonomic community composition and functional diversity remains to be determined. Here, we analyze geographically distributed soils spanning a wide pH gradient and assess the functional gene capacity within those communities using whole genome metagenomics. Low pH soils consistently had fewer taxa (lower alpha and gamma diversity), but only marginal reductions in functional alpha diversity and equivalent functional gamma diversity. However, coherent changes in the relative abundances of annotated genes between pH classes were identified; with functional profiles clustering according to pH independent of geography. Differences in gene abundances were found to reflect survival and nutrient acquisition strategies, with organic-rich acidic soils harboring a greater abundance of cation efflux pumps, C and N direct fixation systems and fermentation pathways indicative of anaerobiosis. Conversely, high pH soils possessed more direct transporter-mediated mechanisms for organic C and N substrate acquisition. These findings show that bacterial functional versatility may not be constrained by taxonomy, and we further identify the range of physiological adaptations required to exist in soils of varying nutrient availability and edaphic conditions.Simulation models represent soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in global carbon (C) cycle scenarios to support climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90change studies. It is imperative to increase confidence in long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term predictions of SOC dynamics by reducing the uncertainty in model estimates. We evaluated SOC simulated from an ensemble of 26 process\uffe2\uff80\uff90based C models by comparing simulations to experimental data from seven long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term bare\uffe2\uff80\uff90fallow (vegetation\uffe2\uff80\uff90free) plots at six sites: Denmark (two sites), France, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The decay of SOC in these plots has been monitored for decades since the last inputs of plant material, providing the opportunity to test decomposition without the continuous input of new organic material. The models were run independently over multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90year simulation periods (from 28 to 80\uffc2\uffa0years) in a blind test with no calibration (Bln) and with the following three calibration scenarios, each providing different levels of information and/or allowing different levels of model fitting: (a) calibrating decomposition parameters separately at each experimental site (Spe); (b) using a generic, knowledge\uffe2\uff80\uff90based, parameterization applicable in the Central European region (Gen); and (c) using a combination of both (a) and (b) strategies (Mix). We addressed uncertainties from different modelling approaches with or without spin\uffe2\uff80\uff90up initialization of SOC. Changes in the multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90model median (MMM) of SOC were used as descriptors of the ensemble performance. On average across sites, Gen proved adequate in describing changes in SOC, with MMM equal to average SOC (and standard deviation) of 39.2 (\uffc2\uffb115.5)\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha compared to the observed mean of 36.0 (\uffc2\uffb119.7)\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha (last observed year), indicating sufficiently reliable SOC estimates. Moving to Mix (37.5\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa016.7\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha) and Spe (36.8\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa019.8\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha) provided only marginal gains in accuracy, but modellers would need to apply more knowledge and a greater calibration effort than in Gen, thereby limiting the wider applicability of models.We used a nonintrusive field experiment carried out at six sites \uffe2\uff80\uff93 Wales (UK), Denmark (DK), the Netherlands (NL), Hungary (HU), Sardinia (Italy \uffe2\uff80\uff93 IT), and Catalonia (Spain \uffe2\uff80\uff93 SP) \uffe2\uff80\uff93 along a climatic and latitudinal gradient to examine the response of plant species richness and primary productivity to warming and drought in shrubland ecosystems. The warming treatment raised the plot daily temperature by ca. 1 \uffc2\uffb0C, while the drought treatment led to a reduction in soil moisture at the peak of the growing season that ranged from 26% at the SP site to 82% in the NL site. During the 7 years the experiment lasted (1999\uffe2\uff80\uff932005), we used the pin\uffe2\uff80\uff90point method to measure the species composition of plant communities and plant biomass, litterfall, and shoot growth of the dominant plant species at each site. A significantly lower increase in the number of species pin\uffe2\uff80\uff90pointed per transect was found in the drought plots at the SP site, where the plant community was still in a process of recovering from a forest fire in 1994. No changes in species richness were found at the other sites, which were at a more mature and stable state of succession and, thus less liable to recruitment of new species. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and temperature of the growing season was positive at the coldest site and negative at the warmest site. The warming treatment tended to increase the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) at the northern sites. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and soil moisture during the growing season was not significant at the wettest sites, but was positive at the driest sites. The drought treatment tended to reduce the ANPP in the NL, HU, IT, and SP sites. The responses to warming were very strongly related to the Gaussen aridity index (stronger responses the lower the aridity), whereas the responses to drought were not. Changes in the annual aboveground biomass accumulation, litterfall, and, thus, the ANPP, mirrored the interannual variation in climate conditions: the most outstanding change was a decrease in biomass accumulation and an increase in litterfall at most sites during the abnormally hot year of 2003. Species richness also tended to decrease in 2003 at all sites except the cold and wet UK site. Species\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific responses to warming were found in shoot growth: at the SP site, Globularia alypum was not affected, while the other dominant species, Erica multiflora, grew 30% more; at the UK site, Calluna vulgaris tended to grow more in the warming plots, while Empetrum nigrum tended to grow less. Drought treatment decreased plant growth in several studied species, although there were some species such as Pinus halepensis at the SP site or C. vulgaris at the UK site that were not affected. The magnitude of responses to warming and drought thus depended greatly on the differences between sites, years, and species and these multiple plant responses may be expected to have consequences at ecosystem and community level. Decreases in biodiversity and the increase in E. multiflora growth at the SP site as a response to warming challenge the assumption that sensitivity to warming may be less well developed at more southerly latitudes; likewise, the fact that one of the studied shrublands presented negative ANPP as a response to the 2003 heat wave also challenges the hypothesis that future climate warming will lead to an enhancement of plant growth and carbon sequestration in temperate ecosystems. Extreme events may thus change the general trend of increased productivity in response to warming in the colder sites.

", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Onada de calor", "arctic ecosystems", "Matorral", "drought", "Biomasa vegetal", "heathland", "global warming", "01 natural sciences", "Sequ\u00eda", "Productividad primaria neta", "Forest-steppe", "Gradiente Europea", "Climate change", "Canvi clim\u00e0tic", "Cambio clim\u00e1tico", "net primary productivity", "evergreen mediterranean forest", "species richness", "litterfall", "biodiversity", "European gradient", "Plant growth", "2. Zero hunger", "Global warming", "terrestrial ecosystems", "phillyrea-latifolia", "Biodiversity", "Sequera", "Crecimiento de las plantas", "6. Clean water", "Net primary productivity", "climate change", "Brezal", "Biomassa vegetal", "climate-change", "heat wave", "Bosc-estepa", "environmental-change", "Litterfall", "Shrubland", "Biodiversidad", "soil", "Riquesa d'esp\u00e8cies", "forest-steppe", "Heat wave", "Bruguerar", "carbon-cycle", "Riqueza de especies", "quercus-ilex", "14. Life underwater", "plant biomass", "Hojarasca", "Plant biomass", "Drought", "Escalfament global", "plant growth", "15. Life on land", "biodiversity; climate change; global warming; plant community; primary production; shrubland; species richness", " Benelux; Catalonia; Central Europe; Denmark; Eurasia; Europe; Hungary; Italy; Netherlands; Northern Europe; Sardinia; Scandinavia; Southern Europe; Spain; United Kingdom; Wales; Western Europe", " Calluna; Calluna vulgaris; Empetrum nigrum; Erica multiflora; Globularia alypum; Pinus halepensis; Biodiversity; Climate change; Drought; European gradient; Forest-steppe; Global warming; Heat wave; Heathland; Litterfall; Net primary productivity; Plant biomass; Plant growth; Shrubland; Species richness", "Gradient Europea", "Biodiversitat", "Creixement de les plantes", "Productivitat prim\u00e0ria neta", "13. Climate action", "cistus-albidus", "Calentamiento global", "Bosque-estepa", "shrubland", "Fullaraca", "Heathland", "Species richness", "Ola de calor"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.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.1365-2486.2007.01464.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-10-04T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:19:44Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-01-11", "title": "Fungal And Bacterial Growth Responses To N Fertilization And Ph In The 150-Year 'Park Grass' Uk Grassland Experiment", "description": "The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization (0-150 kg N ha\u207b\u00b9 year\u207b\u00b9 since 1865) and pH (3.3-7.4) on fungal and bacterial growth, biomass and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition were investigated in grassland soils from the 'Park Grass Experiment', Rothamsted Research, UK. Bacterial growth decreased and fungal growth increased with lower pH, resulting in a 50-fold increase in the relative importance of fungi between pH 7.4 and 3.3. The PLFA-based fungal:bacterial biomass ratio was unchanged between pH 4.5 and 7.4, and decreased only below pH 4.5. Respiration and substrate-induced respiration biomass both decreased three- to fourfold with lower pH, but biomass concentrations estimated using PLFAs were unaffected by pH. N fertilization did not affect bacterial growth and marginally affected fungal growth while PLFA biomass marker concentrations were all reduced by higher N additions. Respiration decreased with higher N application, suggesting a reduced quality of the soil organic carbon. The PLFA composition was strongly affected by both pH and N. A comparison with a pH gradient in arable soil allowed us to generalize the pH effect between systems. There are 30-50-fold increases in the relative importance of fungi between high (7.4-8.3) and low (3.3-4.5) pH with concomitant reductions of respiration by 30-70%.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen", "Fatty Acids", "Fungi", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "Hydrogen-Ion Concentration", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Microbiology", "United Kingdom", "03 medical and health sciences", "Soil", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Phospholipids", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.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.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-01-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1128/mBio.00799-17", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:19:56Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-03-19", "title": "Bacterial Physiological Adaptations to Contrasting Edaphic Conditions Identified Using Landscape Scale Metagenomics", "description": "Abstract

Environmental factors relating to soil pH are widely known to be important in structuring soil bacterial communities, yet the relationship between taxonomic community composition and functional diversity remains to be determined. Here, we analyze geographically distributed soils spanning a wide pH gradient and assess the functional gene capacity within those communities using whole genome metagenomics. Low pH soils consistently had fewer taxa (lower alpha and gamma diversity), but only marginal reductions in functional alpha diversity and equivalent functional gamma diversity. However, coherent changes in the relative abundances of annotated genes between pH classes were identified; with functional profiles clustering according to pH independent of geography. Differences in gene abundances were found to reflect survival and nutrient acquisition strategies, with organic-rich acidic soils harboring a greater abundance of cation efflux pumps, C and N direct fixation systems and fermentation pathways indicative of anaerobiosis. Conversely, high pH soils possessed more direct transporter-mediated mechanisms for organic C and N substrate acquisition. These findings show that bacterial functional versatility may not be constrained by taxonomy, and we further identify the range of physiological adaptations required to exist in soils of varying nutrient availability and edaphic conditions.

", "keywords": ["Q Science", "0301 basic medicine", "330", "Supplementary Data", "ecophysiology", "Ecophysiology", "NE/E006353/1", "Bacterial Physiological Phenomena", "Microbiology", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Virology", "European Commission", "Ecosystem", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "655240", "metagenomics", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)", "Q", "NE/M017125/1", "Biodiversity", "Hydrogen-Ion Concentration", "15. Life on land", "Adaptation", " Physiological", "soil microbiology", "QR1-502", "United Kingdom", "3. Good health", "Soil microbiology", "Metagenomics", "Genome", " Bacterial", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/117887v1.full.pdf"}, {"href": "https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/mBio.00799-17"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00799-17"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/mBio", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1128/mBio.00799-17", "name": "item", "description": "10.1128/mBio.00799-17", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1128/mBio.00799-17"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-03-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2164/13294", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-30T16:26:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-08-29", "title": "Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes", "description": "Abstract

Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil\uffe2\uff80\uff93atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.Environmental factors relating to soil pH are widely known to be important in structuring soil bacterial communities, yet the relationship between taxonomic community composition and functional diversity remains to be determined. Here, we analyze geographically distributed soils spanning a wide pH gradient and assess the functional gene capacity within those communities using whole genome metagenomics. Low pH soils consistently had fewer taxa (lower alpha and gamma diversity), but only marginal reductions in functional alpha diversity and equivalent functional gamma diversity. However, coherent changes in the relative abundances of annotated genes between pH classes were identified; with functional profiles clustering according to pH independent of geography. Differences in gene abundances were found to reflect survival and nutrient acquisition strategies, with organic-rich acidic soils harboring a greater abundance of cation efflux pumps, C and N direct fixation systems and fermentation pathways indicative of anaerobiosis. Conversely, high pH soils possessed more direct transporter-mediated mechanisms for organic C and N substrate acquisition. These findings show that bacterial functional versatility may not be constrained by taxonomy, and we further identify the range of physiological adaptations required to exist in soils of varying nutrient availability and edaphic conditions.Simulation models represent soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in global carbon (C) cycle scenarios to support climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90change studies. It is imperative to increase confidence in long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term predictions of SOC dynamics by reducing the uncertainty in model estimates. We evaluated SOC simulated from an ensemble of 26 process\uffe2\uff80\uff90based C models by comparing simulations to experimental data from seven long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term bare\uffe2\uff80\uff90fallow (vegetation\uffe2\uff80\uff90free) plots at six sites: Denmark (two sites), France, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The decay of SOC in these plots has been monitored for decades since the last inputs of plant material, providing the opportunity to test decomposition without the continuous input of new organic material. The models were run independently over multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90year simulation periods (from 28 to 80\uffc2\uffa0years) in a blind test with no calibration (Bln) and with the following three calibration scenarios, each providing different levels of information and/or allowing different levels of model fitting: (a) calibrating decomposition parameters separately at each experimental site (Spe); (b) using a generic, knowledge\uffe2\uff80\uff90based, parameterization applicable in the Central European region (Gen); and (c) using a combination of both (a) and (b) strategies (Mix). We addressed uncertainties from different modelling approaches with or without spin\uffe2\uff80\uff90up initialization of SOC. Changes in the multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90model median (MMM) of SOC were used as descriptors of the ensemble performance. On average across sites, Gen proved adequate in describing changes in SOC, with MMM equal to average SOC (and standard deviation) of 39.2 (\uffc2\uffb115.5)\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha compared to the observed mean of 36.0 (\uffc2\uffb119.7)\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha (last observed year), indicating sufficiently reliable SOC estimates. Moving to Mix (37.5\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa016.7\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha) and Spe (36.8\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa019.8\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C/ha) provided only marginal gains in accuracy, but modellers would need to apply more knowledge and a greater calibration effort than in Gen, thereby limiting the wider applicability of models.