What Co‐Occurrence Networks Can and Cannot Tell Us About Soil Ecology

ABSTRACT Co‐occurrence network analyses are widely used to explore soil microbial communities, providing a framework to describe associations among soil taxa and their potential responses to environmental gradients or treatments. These networks are often interpreted as representations of ecological interactions yet, the ecological (and statistical) robustness of such inferences depends on whether the network in question truly reflects underlying biological associations rather than just spurious correlations or even methodological artifacts. In this opinion paper, we examine the premise, strengths, and limitations of co‐occurrence network analyses and discuss methodological challenges associated with data compositionality, sample size, taxonomic resolution, and the spatial and temporal scales at which interactions occur in soil. We highlight the importance of robust null models for statistical validation of network patterns to identify genuine structures and their ecological implications. We finally synthesize approaches for integration between network science and soil ecology to enable co‐occurrence networks move from descriptive analyses to understanding the mechanisms that structure soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.