Increasing aridity affects soil microorganisms
A new GRADCATCH paper by Doménech-Pascual et al. reveals how increasing aridity affects soil microbial functions and communities across the GRADCATCH aridity gradient in Spain.
The study found that increasing aridity led to a gradual change in the microbial community structure including a decrease in fungal diversity. Despite changes in microbial community structure, key soil microbial functions (microbial respiration and enzyme activities) remained relatively similar across sites. This finding suggests a degree of functional redundancy within the microbial community, indicating functional resilience to increasing aridity. The functional redundance may buffer soil functions against increasing aridity, which will have implications for modeling and predicting ecosystem responses to climate change in regions expected to experience increased aridity.
Microbial respiration and enzyme activities were primarily driven by local soil properties rather than aridity itself, indicating that soil edaphology plays a crucial role in determining soil functionality. By highlighting the importance of local soil properties in driving soil functions, the research underscores the need for soil management practices that maintain or enhance soil organic matter and texture. This can help sustain soil functionality under increasing aridity.
The finding will soon be published in the scientific journal Applied Soil Ecology.
Contact Professor Anders Priemé, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, aprieme@bio.ku.dk for more information.