| Title: |
The soil microbiome as an indicator of ecosystem multifunctionality in European soils |
| Authors: |
Romero, Ferrán; Labouyrie, Maëva; Orgiazzi, Alberto; Ballabio, Cristiano; Panagos, Panos; Jones, Arwyn; Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Eisenhauer, Nico; Sünnemann, Marie; Guerra, Carlos A.; Tao, Dongxue; Rog, Ido; Jiao, Shuo; Mocali, Stefano; Rillig, Matthias C.; Lehmann, Anika; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; van der Heijden, Marcel G. A. |
| Contributors: |
Novo Nordisk Foundation; European Commission; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); Swiss National Science Foundation; Romero, Ferrán; Labouyrie, Maëva; Orgiazzi, Alberto; Ballabio, Cristiano; Panagos, Panos; Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Eisenhauer, Nico; Sünnemann, Marie; Guerra, Carlos A.; Tao, Dongxue; Rog, Ido; Jiao, Shuo; Mocali, Stefano; Rillig, Matthias C.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; van der Heijden, Marcel G. A. |
| Publisher Information: |
Nature Research |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Digital.CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas / Spanish National Research Council) |
| Description: |
11 páginas.- 4 figuras.- 69 referencias.- The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67353-9 ; The role of soil microorganisms in supporting multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) remains poorly understood across diverse environmental conditions. Here, we investigate 484 soils from 27 European countries spanning a range of climatic and edaphic contexts. We assess the contribution of climate, soil properties, and soil microbiome traits (i.e., the relative abundance of co-occurring taxa) to explain six key functional proxies related to soil structure, biochemical activity, and productivity. We find the highest multifunctionality values in grasslands, woodlands, loamy and acidic soils, and temperate humid regions, and the lowest in croplands, alkaline soils, and drier regions. Soil properties explain 12–31% of variation in multifunctionality, with microbial biomass and nitrogen content emerging as the strongest predictors. The soil microbiome accounts for 2–14% of unique variance in multifunctionality but explains more than 25% of variation in enzymatic activities and primary productivity in clay-rich soils and soils originating from temperate dry regions. Specific taxa, particularly within Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and the fungal genus Mortierella consistently emerge as strong predictors of ecosystem multifunctionality. Our findings highlight that ecosystem multifunctionality is jointly shaped by soil properties and microbial communities. We argue that specific taxa hold potential as context-dependent indicators for multifunctionality monitoring across environmental gradients. ; F.R. acknowledges funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation through a Postdoctoral fellowship (grant reference number NNF24OC0094454). The LUCAS Survey is coordinated by Unit E4 of the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT). The LUCAS Soil sample collection is supported by the Directorate-General Environment (DG-ENV), Directorate-General Agriculture and ... |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#; info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020-115813RA-I00/ES/INNOVACION ASOCIADA A LA BIODIVERSIDAD DEL SUELO PARA AUMENTAR LA PRODUCCION Y SOSTENIBILIDAD DE ZONAS AGRICOLAS EN UN CONTEXTO DE CAMBIO CLIMATICO /; info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/862695; http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67353-9; Sí; Nature Communications 17: 705 (2026); https://hdl.handle.net/10261/417746 |
| DOI: |
10.1038/s41467-025-67353-9 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/10261/417746; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67353-9 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.601E9975 |
| Database: |
BASE |