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Publications

Journal Article Epublish 1 citation

PubMed: 42323301 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-73215-9

Aridity-related differences in soil elemental ratios reshape microbial functional traits across global biomes.

Nat Commun 17(1)

Authors: Chunkai Li, Youzhi Feng, Tadeo Sáez-Sandino, Chao Xiong, David J Eldridge, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Emilio Guirado, Guiyao Zhou, Miguel García-Gómez, Enrique Valencia, Miguel Berdugo, Sergio Asensio, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Betty Josefina Mendoza, Asmeret A Berhe, Nick A Cutler, Sebastian Abades, Julio Alcántara, Fernando Alfaro, Antonio I Arroyo, Matt Barrett, Felipe Bastida, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew Bowker, Cristina Branquinho, Stephen C Hart, Balázs Deák, Jorge Durán, Carlos Ivan Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Lauchlan H Fraser, Antonio Gallardo, Laura García Velázquez, Katja Geissler, Tine Grebenc, Elizabeth Gusman Moltanvan, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Lauri Laanisto, Peter C le Roux, Pierre Liancourt, Jinsong Liang, Anja Linstädter, Michelle A Louw, Petr Macek, Gillian Maggs-Kölling … and 34 other authors

Affiliations

  • State Key Laboratory for Development and Utilization of Forest Food Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
  • State Key Laboratory for Development and Utilization of Forest Food Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
  • Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
  • School of Agriculture and Environment, UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
  • School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
  • Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro Sup, Unité Mixte de Recherche Ecosystème Prairial, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
  • Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Avignon Université, IRD, IMBE, France.
  • Instituto Universitario de Investigación en el Olivar y Aceites de Oliva, Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain.
  • Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramón Margalef", Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain.
  • Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, Almería, Spain.
  • Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, E-41012, Sevilla, Spain.
  • Departamento de Ingeniería y Morfología del Terreno, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
  • Departmento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
  • Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain.
  • Ted & Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA.
  • School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK.
  • Líneas de Base Públicas, Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, Gobierno de Chile, Chile.
  • Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología. Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain.
  • GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology and Environment, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
  • Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE), CSIC, Av. Montañana 1005, 50059, Zaragoza, Spain.
  • Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
  • College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
  • Department of Soil and Water Conservation, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
  • Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
  • Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14201, Mongolia.
  • Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
  • School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
  • cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Life & Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA, USA.
  • Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, 2-4 Alkotmány street, Vácrátót, Hungary.
  • Misión Biológica de Galicia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 36143 Pontevedra, Spain.
  • Laboratorio de Ecología Tropical y Servicios Ecosistémicos, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador.
  • Dirección de Investigación, Vicerrectoría Académica, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile.
  • Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Ñuñoa, Chile.
  • Millenium Nucleus of Patagonian Limit-of-Life (LiLi), Valdivia, Chile.
  • Department of Natural Resource Science, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, V2C 0C8, Canada.
  • Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales. Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla, 41013 Sevilla, Spain.
  • Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico (BioFun), Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), Unidad Asociada al CSIC por el IRNAS-CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, 41012, Seville, Spain.
  • Department of Forest Physiology and Genetics, Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Department of Biodiversity Research and Systematic Botany, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
  • Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Tourism, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 5, 51006, Tartu, Estonia.
  • Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0083, South Africa.
  • State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
  • Plant Ecology Group, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
  • School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China.
  • Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Sadkach 7, 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
  • Gobabeb-Namib Research Institute, Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Abstract

Aridity alters soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry, yet the implications of these processes for soil microbial functional traits and potentials at the genomic level remain poorly synthesized. Here we combine measurements of soil C, N and P pools and ratios with shotgun metagenomes from 200 natural ecosystems spanning major biomes worldwide. Across sites, increased aridity is associated with lower soil C:N and N:P (and C:P) ratios and with a coordinated shift in microbial functional potential. Genes linked to catabolic resource acquisition-including carbohydrate-active enzymes and pathways for degradation of plant litter and organophosphorus compounds-are declined as C becomes relatively scarce. In contrast, genes supporting anabolic investment in growth and drought resistance, such as RNA transcription, protein synthesis and intracellular transport, are increased. These patterns indicate that aridity-related change in soil elemental ratios is coupled to a broad shift from catabolic to anabolic strategies in soil microbiomes. By linking soil elemental ratios to microbial functional traits across biomes, our study provides a framework for anticipating how climate-driven drying may reorganize microbial metabolism with consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling.

MeSH

Soil, Biological Science Disciplines