Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Soil microbial community composition matters for crop growth, but only when mobilizing recalcitrant nutrient sources

Teal S. Potter; Richard A. Lankau; Erin M. Silva; Matthew D. Ruark

Plant and Soil · 2025

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Summary

Abstract Background and aims Soil microbes perform essential functions for agroecosystems, but it is unclear whether and when variation in the composition of the microbial community matters for agronomic outcomes since high functional redundancy may render compositional variation irrelevant for function. We hypothesized that the complexity of organic soil amendments would determine whether microbial community composition and richness matters for efficient decomposition and ultimately crop growth. Methods To test this hypothesis, we conducted a greenhouse experiment in which we grew maize and rye plants in pots inoculated with soil from 11 different farm f

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1007/s11104-025-07864-y
Catalogue ID
NRmo3d4gae-00z
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