A Large Fraction of Soil Microbial Taxa Is Sensitive to Experimental Warming
Global warming is expected to significantly impact the soil fungal and bacterial microbiomes, yet the predominant ecological response of microbial taxa-whether an increase, decrease, or no change-remains unclear. It is also unknown whether microbial taxa from different evolutionary lineages exhibit common patterns and what factors drive these changes. Here, we analyzed three mid-term (> 5 years) warming experiments across contrasting dryland and temperate-boreal ecosystems, encompassing over 500 topsoil samples collected across multiple time points. We found that warming altered the relative abundance of microbial taxa, with both increases and decreases over time. For instance, the relative abundance of bacterial and fungal taxa responding to warming (increase or decrease) accounted for 35.9% and 42.9% in the dryland ecosystem, respectively. Notably, taxa within the same phylum exhibited divergent responses to warming. These ecological shifts were linked to factors such as photosynthetic cover and fungal lifestyle, both of which influence soil functions. Overall, our findings indicate that soil warming can reshape a significant fraction of the microbial community across ecosystems, potentially driving changes in soil functions.
Authors
- Pankaj Trivedi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0173-2804)
- Artur Stefański (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5412-1014)
- Antonio Gallardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2674-4265)
- Fernando T. Maestre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-4856)
- Peter B. Reich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-662X)
- Brajesh K. Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4413-4185)
- Ajay Dhar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7494-0378)
- Concha Cano‐Díaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6948-6553)
- Tadeo Sáez‐Sandino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9539-4716)
- Manuel Delgado‐Baquerizo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-576X)
- Juntao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1822-2176)
- Raimundo Bermúdez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8731-5053)
Institutions
- Texas Tech University (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (US)
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (US)
- Universidade Politécnica de Viana do Castelo (PT)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (ES)
- Western Sydney University (AU)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
- Colorado State University (US)
- Universidad Pablo de Olavide (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Global Change Biology
- Published
- 2025-05-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70231
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.87
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- University of Minnesota
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Commission
- Generalitat Valenciana
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Western Sydney University
- Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Office of Science
- Advanced Research Projects Agency
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Conselleria de Agricultura, Medio Ambiente, Cambio Climático y Desarrollo Rural, Generalitat Valenciana
- Biological and Environmental Research
- HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council