How do soil microbes respond when multiple environmental stressors act at the same time? Drawing on two global datasets that combine soil metagenomic information with measures of environmental stress, this study co-authored by Liana Kindermann and Anja Linstädter (Project A01 “Future Carbon Storage”) reveals that concurrent stressors can profoundly reshape the functional potential of soil microbial communities worldwide. Up to 60% of microbial functional genes shift under high levels of environmental stress, with genes associated with growth declining and those linked to stress resistance and energy production increasing. These findings suggest that soil microbes reallocate resources from growth towards survival when facing multiple stressors, with important implications for the maintenance of soil functions and ecosystem resilience under ongoing global change.
Functional Restructuring of the Global Soil Microbiome Under Multiple Stressors
By Ruirui Chen, Youzhi Feng, Liana Kindermann L., […] Linstädter A et al.
Abstract
Microbes, as the planet’s most abundant and diverse organisms, drive soil functions globally and are vulnerable to environmental stressors triggered by global change. Yet, knowledge regarding the impacts of multiple environmental stressors on their functional profiles as well as the consequences for soil functionality largely remains unknown. Here, we analyze two global-scale datasets including information on soil metagenomics and multiple environmental stressors. We find that across terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, up to 60% of all functional genes significantly shift when soil microbes experience the high-level of concurrent stressors. In this regard, the relative abundances of genes involved in microbial growth are negatively linked to the increasing number of stressors. Conversely, those genes linked to stress resistance and energy production exhibit positive responses. Taken together, our findings highlight a significant restructuring of global soil functional microbiomes in response to multiple environmental stressors. Consequently, such restructuring drives community-level shifts in matter and energy reallocations, thereby impacting the maintenance of soil functionality under the projected global change.
Reference
Chen R, Luo S, Feng Y, […] Kindermann L., […] Linstädter A et al. 2026. Functional restructuring of the global soil microbiome under multiple stressors. Nature Communications, DOI
