Journal Article
Soil Microbial Diversity and Network Organization Respond to Land Use and Agricultural Inputs Worldwide
Zaki Saati‐Santamaría; Sergio Pérez‐Gorjón; Daniel Abel‐Schaad; Alberto Acedo‐Bécares; Francisca Alba‐Sánchez; Amanda Lucia Alves; Weronika Babinska‐Wensierska; Jorge Ariel Marfetán; Carolina Barroetaveña; Kara Barry; Francisco Beitia; Katerina Biniari; Elí Misael Bobadilla‐Peñaló; Gregory Bonito; Mihalis Boutaris; Victoria Bueno‐González; Guillermo Cabezas; Parharidis Charalambos; Ovidiu Copoț; Andrés de Errasti; Luis de Pedro Noriega; Philippe Delavault; Fernando Dianez‐Martínez; David Diez‐Méndez; Enrico Ercole; Abel Fernández‐Ruiz; Martina Ferraguti; Ana Laura Gallo; Paula García‐Fraile; Mario Garrido; David González del Pozo; Alina G. Greslebin; Gabriel Grilli; Edmundo Danilo Guilcapi‐Pacheco; Danny Haelewaters; Terry W. Henkel; Andrés Hirigoyen; Kentaro Hosaka; Pablo Yair Huais; Marja Jalli; Alfredo Justo; Marjo Keskitalo; Tommaso La Mantia; Aneta Lambevska; Ewald Langer; Corina Leconte; Ewa Lojkowska; David Marcos‐Vidal; Antonio J. Mendoza‐Fernández; Isabel Miralles‐Mellado; Lucía Molina; Norman Muzhinji; Minh N. Nguyen; Diego Nieto‐Lugilde; Alberto Nieto‐Palenzuela; André‐Ledoux Njouonkou; Sarah Norvell; Francisco J. Oficialdegui; Raúl Ortega Pérez; Ansa Palojärvi; Marcos Paradelo‐Pérez; Zunilda Pavone; Julio Peñas de Giles; Anna Maria Persiani; María Belén Pildain; Daniel Pinto‐Carrasco; Lucie Poulin; Jean‐Bernard Pouvreau; Paola Quatrini; David Rodríguez de la Cruz; Gonzalo M. Romano; Natalia Rosas‐Ramos; Francisca Ruano; Isabel Salcedo‐Larralde; Esteban Salmerón‐Sánchez; Katerina Sam; Cathy Sharp; Patricia Vieira Tiago; Ricardo Valenzuela; Aída M. Vasco‐Palacios; Mylonas Vasilis; María Laura Vélez; Alfredo Vizzini; Sergey Volobuev; Alan R. Wood; Pirjo Yli‐Hemminki; Nourou S. Yorou; Ivan V. Zmitrovich; Javier Bobo‐Pinilla
Global Change Biology · Vol. 32, Issue 7 · 2026
Abstract
Soil microbiomes are critical for ecosystem functioning, yet the global influences of climate and agricultural practices on their diversity and structure remain incompletely characterized. Here we analyzed 1921 soil samples from 33 countries worldwide across diverse biomes to assess how climate gradients and agricultural inputs, including pesticides and fertilizers, shape prokaryotic and fungal communities. We found that microbial diversity peaks at intermediate temperatures and differs markedly between natural and agricultural soils, with agriculture increasing microbial diversity while altering community composition and ecological guilds. Pesticide use selectively reduced bacterial diversity and shifted fungal guilds, decreasing ectomycorrhizal fungi while increasing saprotrophs, whereas fertilization reduced microbial network cohesion, with organic and inorganic fertilizers eliciting distinct community responses. These findings reveal that climatic factors and agricultural management jointly influence soil microbial diversity, community structure, and network connectivity, with implications for soil health and ecosystem resilience in managed landscapes. Overall, our results demonstrate that agricultural practices, including the use of pesticides and both organic and inorganic fertilizers, act as strong ecological filters that reshape soil microbiomes worldwide—enhancing apparent diversity but driving a functional shift toward less mutualistic, more fragmented, and potentially less resilient communities.