2026-08-21T01:03:06Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/requestoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1391162026-08-19T00:03:31Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15
Aridity-related differences in soil elemental ratios reshape microbial functional traits across global biomes
Li, Chunkai
Feng, Youzhi
Sáez-Sandino, Tadeo
Xiong, Chao
Eldridge, David J.
Gross, Nicolas
Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann
Ochoa, Victoria
Gozalo, Beatriz
Guirado, Emilio
Zhou, Guiyao
García-Gómez, Miguel
Valencia Gómez, Enrique
Berdugo Vega, Miguel
Asensio, Sergio
Martínez-Valderrama, Jaime
Mendoza, Betty Josefina
Berhe, Asmeret A.
Cutler, Nick A.
Abades, Sebastian
Alcántara, Julio
Alfaro, Fernando
Arroyo, Antonio I.
Barrett, Matt
Bastida, Felipe
Blaum, Niels
Boldgiv, Bazartseren
Bowker, Matthew
Branquinho, Cristina
Hart, Stephen C.
Deák, Balázs
Durán, Jorge
Espinosa, Carlos Ivan
Fajardo, Alex
Fraser, Lauchlan H.
Gallardo, Antonio
García Velázquez, Laura
Geissler, Katja
Grebenc, Tine
Gusman Moltanvan, Elizabeth
Kindermann, Liana
Köbel, Melanie
Laanisto, Lauri
le Roux, Peter C.
Liancourt, Pierre
Liang, Jinsong
Linstädter, Anja
Louw, Michelle A.
Macek, Petr
Maggs-Kölling, Gillian
Makhalanyane, Thulani P.
Manzaneda, Antonio J.
Marais, Eugene
Montesinos, Daniel
Mora, Juan P.
Moreno, Gerardo
Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam
Mussery, Amir
Unuk Nahberger, Tina
Nair, Girish R.
Neuhauser, Sigrid
Plaza, Cesar
Pueyo, Yolanda
Rey, Pedro J.
Rey, Ana
de los Ríos, Asunción
Rodríguez, Alexandra
Rodriguez Lozano, Borja
Roman, Raul
C. Ruppert, Jan
Salah, Ayman
Serôdio, Joana
Siles, José A.
Singh, Jay
Travers, Samantha
Undrakhbold, Sainbileg
Valkó, Orsolya
Vivas, María
Wang, Lixin
Williams, Mark A.
Zaady, Eli
Maestre, Fernando T.
Singh, Brajesh K.
Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
574.4:579.6
Aridity
Soil elemental ratios
Soil microbial functional traits
Microbial metabolism
Global biomes
Carbon cycling
Nutrient cycling
Ecología (Biología)
Microbiología (Biología)
Medio ambiente natural
Biología molecular (Biología)
2403 Bioquímica
2502.03 Bioclimatología
2511 Ciencias del Suelo (Edafología)
2419 Simbiosis
Acknowledgements
A.F. acknowledges support from ANID PI A/BASAL FB210006 and the Millennium Science Initiative Programme (grant no. NCN2021-040).
Funding
Y.F. and C.L. disclose support for the research of this work from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [42577352, 42407401 and 32161123004], the National Key R&D Program [2024YFD1300800], the Equipment Research and Development Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [PTYQ2024YZ0010], and the Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2024M761433]. F.T.M. discloses support for the research of this work from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. S.U. and B.B. disclose support for the research of this work from the Taylor Family-Asia Foundation Endowed Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology. T.G. and T.U.-N. disclose support for the research of their works from Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency projects [J4-3098, J4-4547] and Research group P4-0107. M.B. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science [RYC2021-031797-I]. G.Z. discloses support for the research of this work from Ramón y Cajal grant [RYC2022-035226-I] and AYUDAS DE EXCELENCIA RYC-MAX2023 project from Spanish National Research Council. S.C.H. is supported, in part, by US National Science Foundation grant [EAR-2012878] during the writing of this manuscript. R.R. discloses support for the research of this work from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF-GF Actions [MICROBIOCLIM, GA nr. 101028323]. F.T.M. discloses that the survey of dryland areas was supported by the European Research Council [BIODESERT project, grant agreement no. 647038]. B.K.S. and T.S.-S. disclose support for the research of their works from Australian Research Council [DP230101448]. B.K.S. is also supported by ARC Training Center [IC240100041]. M.D.-B. and F.B. disclose support for the research of this work from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I+D+i project PID2020-115813RA-I00 and PID2020-114942RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. J.A.S. discloses support for the research of this work from the grant RYC2023-044125-I funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF+. T.S.-S. and B.K.S. are supported by Australian Research Council [DP230101448]. A.L. and L.K. disclose support for the research of this work from the “funding TRR-228” granted by German Research Foundation (DFG). C.B. and M.K. disclose support for the research of this work from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia with the CE3C project [UIDB/00329/2020], Renewal project [PTDC/ASP-SIL/7743/2020], Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência: AdaptForGrazing [PRR-C05-i03-I-000035], and Collaborative Laboratory CHANGE [LA/P/0121/2020]. M.K. is also supported by FCT grants [SFRH/BD/130274/2017; CEECIND/02453/2018/CP1534/CT0001; PTDC/ASP-SIL/7743/2020; UID/00329/2025; LA/P/0121/2020], by a PhD fellowship [SFRH/BD/130274/2017] and by the LTsER Montado platform [LTER_EU_PT_001]. F.A. is supported by ANID/ATE240004 and ANID/SAL250002. M.M.-R. discloses support for the research of this work from projects PID2021-123097OA-I00 and PID2024-161692OB-C33 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. A.d.l.R. discloses support for the research of this work from AEI-MICINN grant [PID2023-147027NB-I00B]. Other authors not declare the relevant funding.
Aridity alters soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry, yet the implications of these processes for soil microbial functional traits and potentials at the genomic level remain poorly synthesized. Here we combine measurements of soil C, N and P pools and ratios with shotgun metagenomes from 200 natural ecosystems spanning major biomes worldwide. Across sites, increased aridity is associated with lower soil C:N and N:P (and C:P) ratios and with a coordinated shift in microbial functional potential. Genes linked to catabolic resource acquisition—including carbohydrate-active enzymes and pathways for degradation of plant litter and organophosphorus compounds—are declined as C becomes relatively scarce. In contrast, genes supporting anabolic investment in growth and drought resistance, such as RNA transcription, protein synthesis and intracellular transport, are increased. These patterns indicate that aridity-related change in soil elemental ratios is coupled to a broad shift from catabolic to anabolic strategies in soil microbiomes. By linking soil elemental ratios to microbial functional traits across biomes, our study provides a framework for anticipating how climate-driven drying may reorganize microbial metabolism with consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling.
National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Key Research and Development Program of China
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Taylor Family-Asia Foundation Endowed Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology
Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
National Science Foundation
European Union
European Research Council
Australian Research Council
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (Portugal)
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo de Chile
German Research Foundation
Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución
Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas
TRUE
pub
2026-08-18T14:36:45Z
2026-08-18T14:36:45Z
2026-06-20
journal article
VoR
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/139116
2041-1723
10.1038/s41467-026-73215-9
eng
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/RYC2022-035226-I/ES/Forestry and global change/
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/RYC2021-031797-I/ES/Abrupt shifts and global ecosystem thresholds/
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MCIN/Proyectos I+D+i/PID2020-115813RA-I00
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MCIN/Proyectos I+D+i/PID2020-114942RB-I00
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101028323/EU/MICROBIOCLIM
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/647038/EU/BIODESERT
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MCIN/Proyectos I+D+i/PID2021-123097OA-I00
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MCIN/Proyectos I+D+i/PID2024-161692OB-C33
Li, C., Feng, Y., Sáez-Sandino, T., Xiong, C., Eldridge, D. J., Gross, N., Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Y., Ochoa, V., Gozalo, B., Guirado, E., Zhou, G., García-Gómez, M., Valencia, E., Berdugo, M., Asensio, S., Martínez-Valderrama, J., Mendoza, B. J., Berhe, A. A., Cutler, N. A., … Delgado-Baquerizo, M. (2026). Aridity-related differences in soil elemental ratios reshape microbial functional traits across global biomes. Nature Communications, 17, 8224. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73215-9
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
open access
application/pdf
Nature Research