A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities

Soil microbes drive ecosystem function and play a critical role in how ecosystems respond to global change. Research surrounding soil microbial communities has rapidly increased in recent decades, and substantial data relating to phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and potential enzyme activity have been collected and analysed. However, studies have mostly been restricted to local and regional scales, and their accuracy and usefulness are limited by the extent of accessible data. Here we aim to improve data availability by collating a global database of soil PLFA and potential enzyme activity measurements from 12,258 georeferenced samples located across all continents, 5.1% of which have not previously been published. The database contains data relating to 113 PLFAs and 26 enzyme activities, and includes metadata such as sampling date, sample depth, and soil pH, total carbon, and total nitrogen. This database will help researchers in conducting both global- and local-scale studies to better understand soil microbial biomass and function.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Data
Published
2025-09-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05759-2
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.56

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article

A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities

Baodong Chen, K.A. Mackie, Nicolas Fanin, Pablo García‐Palacios et al.
3 citations
Scientific Data
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
3.56
article

A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities

Baodong Chen, K.A. Mackie, Nicolas Fanin, Pablo García‐Palacios, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Vincent E. J. Jassey, Victoria Ochoa, Ellen Kandeler, Anna Abrahão, Mark Anthony, Urmas Kõljalg, Elizabeth M. Bach, Pankaj Trivedi, Mark P. Waldrop, Talaat Ahmed, Carlos A. Guerra, Petr Kohout, Anton Potapov, Felipe Bastida, Lee F. Stanish, Yuanhe Yang, Simone Cesarz, Tanel Vahter, Mathilde Borg Dahl, Flavio Fornasier, Robert I. Griffiths, Kai Zhu, Serita D. Frey, Lori A. Ziolkowski, Miriam Muñoz‐Rojas, G. Kenny Png, Carlos Garcı́a, Heribert Insam, Valentyna Krashevska, Jana Voříšková, Anna M. Cates, M. Manjarrez, M. Noelia Barrios‐García, Robert L. Sinsabaugh, Nico Eisenhauer, Stefan Scheu, Beatriz Gozalo, Andrew J. Margenot, Christoph Rosinger, Lindsey C. Slaughter, Ademir Sérgio Ferreira de Araújo, Rebecca L. McCulley, David A. Wardle, Stefanie Lutz, Kabir Peay, Mari Moora, Fernando T. Maestre, Andrew T. Nottingham, Nick Ostle, Petr Baldrián, María Gómez‐Brandón, Taina Pennanen, Mohammad Zabed Hossain, Raúl Ochoa‐Hueso, Luca Bragazza, Juha M. Alatalo, Minna Malmivaara-Lämsä, Paula V. Morais, Emma J. Sayer, Sergei Põlme, David S. Pescador, Shu-ichi Sugiyama, Светлана Евграфова, Maarja Öpik, Johan van den Hoogen, Kelly E. Mason, Jun Hu, Rajasekaran Murugan, Mohammad Bahram, Francesca Beggi, Ashley Martin, Kai Mangelsdorf, Laura G. van Galen, William J. Pritchard, Romeu Francisco, Gabriel Reuben Smith, X. L. Lu, Leho Tedersoo, Inga Hiiesalu, Richard D. Bardgett, Thomas Ward Crowther, Judith Ascher‐Jenull, Sandra Mara Barbosa Rocha, Sven Marhan, Marina González-Polo, Robert B. Jackson, Moritz Hallama, Arthur A. D. Broadbent, Jane Oja, Jeanette Whitaker, Jordan R. Mayor, Jing‐Zhong Lu, Krista Peltoniemi, Liliane Rueß, Pål Axel Olsson, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri, Christopher C. M. Baker, Liane G. Benning, Hannu Fritze, Martin Zobel, Dirk Wagner, Concha Cano‐Díaz, Aimée T. Classen, Sten Anslan, Shan Luo, Christian Poll, Anders Priemé, Xiaofei Li, Cong Wang, José Paulo Sousa, Lili Jiang, Zhiwei Zhong, Jérémy Puissant, Kailiang Yu, André L. C. Franco
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Soil microbes drive ecosystem function and play a critical role in how ecosystems respond to global change. Research surrounding soil microbial communities has rapidly increased in recent decades, and substantial data relating to phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and potential enzyme activity have been collected and analysed. However, studies have mostly been restricted to local and regional scales, and their accuracy and usefulness are limited by the extent of accessible data. Here we aim to improve data availability by collating a global database of soil PLFA and potential enzyme activity measurements from 12,258 georeferenced samples located across all continents, 5.1% of which have not previously been published. The database contains data relating to 113 PLFAs and 26 enzyme activities, and includes metadata such as sampling date, sample depth, and soil pH, total carbon, and total nitrogen. This database will help researchers in conducting both global- and local-scale studies to better understand soil microbial biomass and function.

Scientific DataVol. 12(1)
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (SA), University of Hohenheim (DE), University of Vermont (US), Inner Mongolia Agricultural University (CN), University of Stirling (GB), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Texas Tech University (US), The Nature Conservancy (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Vienna (AT), University of Alicante (ES), University of Minnesota (US), University of Leeds (GB), Russian Academy of Sciences (RU), National Parks Board (SG), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), University of Kentucky (US), Hirosaki University (JP), University of Liverpool (GB), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of South Carolina (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), University of New Hampshire (US), Bangor University (GB), University of New Mexico (US), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Universidade de São Paulo (BR), Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (US), Northeast Normal University (CN), Lund University (SE), Universität Innsbruck (AT), Universidad de Jaén (ES), Universidade Politécnica de Viana do Castelo (PT), Universität Ulm (DE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Princeton University (US), Aarhus University (DK), University of Dhaka (BD), Universidade Federal do Ceará (BR), University of Michigan (US), Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE), Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (US), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), King Saud University (SA), University of Manchester (GB), Bariloche Atomic Centre (AR), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI), Universidade Federal do Piauí (BR), Department of Defence (AU), ETH Zurich (CH), Universität Greifswald (DE), Universidad de Cádiz (ES), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia (IT), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB), Institute of Microbiology (BY), Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology (CN), Bioversity International (CO), Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (ES), Mission Bio (United States) (US), Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NL), Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias (ES), Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science (RU), Education & Research Foundation (US), Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (DE), Interaction Sol Plante Atmosphère (FR), Don State Agrarian University (RU), Indiana University Bloomington (US), Novita (AU), South China Botanical Garden (CN), Institute of Microbiology (CN), Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (US), Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine (FR), Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (ES), Agroscope (CH), University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden (EE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (CN), Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (CN), Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz (DE), Institute for Sustainability (GB), Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Molecular Interactions (DK), Jilin Agricultural University (CN), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE), Institute of Botany (CN), Environmental Earth Sciences (AU), Technische Hochschule Ulm (DE), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Sukachev Institute of Forest (RU), Hunan Agricultural University (CN), University of Tartu (EE), The University of Adelaide (AU), Qatar University (QA), Universidade de Vigo (ES), Lancaster University (GB), Universidad Nacional del Comahue (AR), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), University of Göttingen (DE), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), University of Coimbra (PT), Hasselt University (BE), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), Umeå University (SE), Colorado State University (US), Leipzig University (DE), BOKU University (AT), University of Jyväskylä (FI), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Austrian Science Fund, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Qatar Petroleum, Vetenskapsrådet, Universität Kassel, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Natural Environment Research Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Division of Environmental Biology
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
3.56
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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