Global long-term agricultural experiments reveal consequences of mineral fertilization for soil microbiomes

Mineral fertilizers have sustained food security for decades, yet the long-term impacts on soil microbial communities underpinning soil health remain virtually unknown. We combine standardized field surveys with a meta-analysis to assemble a global dataset of 501 long-term agricultural experiments (≥5 years, median duration 25 years) to evaluate the impacts of sustained mineral fertilization on soil properties and microbial communities. Long-term mineral fertilization increases soil organic carbon by 14% and decreases soil pH by 0.31 units on average relative to unfertilized controls. Soil organic carbon accumulation largely explains increased microbial biomass carbon and living bacterial biomass. Mineral fertilizer-induced acidification primarily reshapes dominant bacterial taxa, with the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increasing and Firmicutes declining, whereas fungal community composition remains stable. Virulent bacteriophages increase in association with shifts in bacterial hosts. Microbial activities reveal a decoupling of more nitrogen- and phosphorus-acquisition enzymes from the unchanged production of carbon-mineralization enzymes. Microbial communities are taxonomically reorganized without reducing richness or promoting fungal pathogens. These responses are evaluated in the context of agroecosystem type, fertilization regime, and cropping regime. Our findings provide global-scale evidence for the consequences of long-term mineral fertilization on soil health, which is integral to guiding fertilizer management for sustainable agriculture.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-06-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74614-8
Primary Topic
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Global long-term agricultural experiments reveal consequences of mineral fertilization for soil microbiomes

Shengwen Xu, Graeme W. Nicol, Joann K. Whalen, Nataliya Bilyera et al.
Nature Communications
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
article

Global long-term agricultural experiments reveal consequences of mineral fertilization for soil microbiomes

Shengwen Xu, Graeme W. Nicol, Joann K. Whalen, Nataliya Bilyera, Shuai Wu, Z. H. Zhang, Yakov Kuzyakov, Huaiying Yao, Yongxiang Yu, Christoph C. Tebbe, Manuel Delgado‐Baquerizo, Limei Zhang, Haoxin Fan, Xiaoyan Tang
article en

Abstract

Mineral fertilizers have sustained food security for decades, yet the long-term impacts on soil microbial communities underpinning soil health remain virtually unknown. We combine standardized field surveys with a meta-analysis to assemble a global dataset of 501 long-term agricultural experiments (≥5 years, median duration 25 years) to evaluate the impacts of sustained mineral fertilization on soil properties and microbial communities. Long-term mineral fertilization increases soil organic carbon by 14% and decreases soil pH by 0.31 units on average relative to unfertilized controls. Soil organic carbon accumulation largely explains increased microbial biomass carbon and living bacterial biomass. Mineral fertilizer-induced acidification primarily reshapes dominant bacterial taxa, with the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increasing and Firmicutes declining, whereas fungal community composition remains stable. Virulent bacteriophages increase in association with shifts in bacterial hosts. Microbial activities reveal a decoupling of more nitrogen- and phosphorus-acquisition enzymes from the unchanged production of carbon-mineralization enzymes. Microbial communities are taxonomically reorganized without reducing richness or promoting fungal pathogens. These responses are evaluated in the context of agroecosystem type, fertilization regime, and cropping regime. Our findings provide global-scale evidence for the consequences of long-term mineral fertilization on soil health, which is integral to guiding fertilizer management for sustainable agriculture.

Nature Communications
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), Hohai University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Sichuan Agricultural University (CN), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (DE), VetAgro Sup (FR), Institute of Urban Environment (CN), Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (MA), Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (ES), Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (CN), McGill University (CA), University of Göttingen (DE), University of Tübingen (DE), Shaanxi Normal University (CN), Wuhan Institute of Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Agricultural University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, China Scholarship Council, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Genetics
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