Patterns in soil microbial diversity across Europe

Summary

This large-scale European survey of 715 soil sites across 24 countries quantifies how land-use perturbation alters soil microbial biodiversity and functional composition. Contrary to a simple expectation, woodlands showed the lowest bacterial and fungal diversity, whilst croplands contained significantly higher proportions of chemoheterotrophs and fungal plant pathogens but fewer beneficial plant symbionts. The findings suggest that monitoring soil health should integrate both taxonomical and functional diversity metrics, with spatial patterns best predicted by interactions among vegetation, climate, and soil properties.

UK applicability

These findings are directly applicable to UK soil management and agricultural policy, as the study covers multiple European countries with comparable temperate climates and land-use systems. The guidance on simultaneous monitoring of taxonomical and functional microbial diversity could inform UK soil health assessment schemes and inform land management recommendations, particularly for grassland and cropland systems.

Key measures

Bacterial and fungal OTU richness and diversity; distribution of potential functional groups (chemoheterotrophs, plant pathogens, saprotrophs, plant symbionts); spatial patterns explained by vegetation cover, climate, and soil properties

Outcomes reported

The study detected over 79,000 bacterial and 25,000 fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) across 715 sites in 24 European countries and characterised microbial community composition and predicted functional groups along a gradient from woodlands through grasslands to croplands. The research quantified changes in bacterial and fungal diversity, and shifts in the relative abundance of functional groups including chemoheterotrophs, plant pathogens, saprotrophs, and plant symbionts across these land-use categories.

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