Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events

Increasing extreme climatic events threaten the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems<sup>1,2</sup>. Because soil microbes govern key biogeochemical processes, understanding their response to climate extremes is crucial in predicting the consequences for ecosystem functioning<sup>3,4</sup>. Here we subjected soils from 30 grasslands across Europe to four contrasting extreme climatic events under common controlled conditions (drought, flood, freezing and heat), and compared the response of soil microbial communities and their functioning with those of undisturbed soils. Soil microbiomes exhibited a small, but highly consistent and phylogenetically conserved, response under the imposed extreme events. Heat treatment most strongly impacted soil microbiomes, enhancing dormancy and sporulation genes and decreasing metabolic versatility. Microbiome response to heat in particular could be predicted by local climatic conditions and soil properties, with soils that do not normally experience the extreme conditions being imposed being most vulnerable. Our results suggest that soil microbiomes from different climates share unified responses to extreme climatic events, but that predicting the extent of community change may require knowledge of the local microbiome. These findings advance our understanding of soil microbial responses to extreme events, and provide a first step for making general predictions about the impact of extreme climatic events on soil functioning.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature
Published
2024-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08185-3
Citations
119
Primary Topic
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
54.61

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article

Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events

Franciska T. de Vries, Tim Goodall, Paul Kardol, Konstantin B. Gongalsky et al.
119 citations
Nature
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
54.61
article

Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events

Franciska T. de Vries, Tim Goodall, Paul Kardol, Konstantin B. Gongalsky, O. Nicolitch, Oddur Vilhelmsson, Andy Hector, Robert I. Griffiths, Maria Α. Tsiafouli, Nico Eisenhauer, Carly Stevens, Fernando T. Maestre, John Davison, Wolfgang Wanek, Carolin Weser, Martin Schädler, Holly Langridge, Marina Semchenko, Christopher G. Knight, Briony Jones, Emma Jardine, Ariane Dellavalle
article en
119 citations

Abstract

Increasing extreme climatic events threaten the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems<sup>1,2</sup>. Because soil microbes govern key biogeochemical processes, understanding their response to climate extremes is crucial in predicting the consequences for ecosystem functioning<sup>3,4</sup>. Here we subjected soils from 30 grasslands across Europe to four contrasting extreme climatic events under common controlled conditions (drought, flood, freezing and heat), and compared the response of soil microbial communities and their functioning with those of undisturbed soils. Soil microbiomes exhibited a small, but highly consistent and phylogenetically conserved, response under the imposed extreme events. Heat treatment most strongly impacted soil microbiomes, enhancing dormancy and sporulation genes and decreasing metabolic versatility. Microbiome response to heat in particular could be predicted by local climatic conditions and soil properties, with soils that do not normally experience the extreme conditions being imposed being most vulnerable. Our results suggest that soil microbiomes from different climates share unified responses to extreme climatic events, but that predicting the extent of community change may require knowledge of the local microbiome. These findings advance our understanding of soil microbial responses to extreme events, and provide a first step for making general predictions about the impact of extreme climatic events on soil functioning.

NatureVol. 636(8043)
University of Vienna (AT), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE), Bangor University (GB), University of Iceland (IS), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), University of Manchester (GB), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), University of Oxford (GB), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB), Institute for Biodiversity (DE), Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (RU), Imperial College London (GB), University of Tartu (EE), University of Akureyri (IS), Lancaster University (GB), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), University of Amsterdam (NL), University of Sheffield (GB), Leipzig University (DE)
Sight Research UK, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Eesti Teadusagentuur, Generalitat Valenciana, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Vetenskapsrådet, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, European Regional Development Fund
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
54.61
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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