Pub Date : 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110093
Axelle Tortosa , Grégoire T. Freschet , Jean Trap , Alain Brauman , Yvan Capowiez , Sylvain Coq , Jim Félix-Faure , Nathalie Fromin , Laure Gandois , Maritxu Guiresse , Raoul Huys , Antoine Lecerf , Jean-Marc Limousin , Alexandru Milcu , Johanne Nahmani , Agnès Robin , José Miguel Sánchez-Pérez , Sabine Sauvage , Tiphaine Tallec , Claire Wittling , Stephan Hattenschwiler
Soil biodiversity as a critical component of terrestrial ecosystems and their functioning varies across spatial scales and environmental conditions. However, it remains unclear whether and how biodiversity patterns co-vary among different soil taxa across ecosystems.
In this study, we compared diversity patterns of plants, earthworms, nematodes, bacteria, and fungi, as five major groups of soil organisms, across six strongly contrasting ecosystems ranging from mountain peatland to crop fields, including within-ecosystem variation in soil moisture. We hypothesized co-variation in taxonomic richness (alpha diversity) and composition (beta diversity) of multiple groups of soil organisms across ecosystems, moisture conditions and spatial scales.
In partial contrast to our initial hypothesis, co-variation in the taxonomic richness among these groups was limited, though significant positive associations were found among bacteria, fungi, and earthworms across all sites. Plant diversity showed distinct associations with soil organism diversity, particularly with earthworms and bacteria, highlighting above–belowground biodiversity linkages. Beta diversity showed substantial co-variation among all soil organism groups, reflecting a spatial coupling of their communities that was influenced by differences in soil moisture conditions. These patterns were more pronounced in near-natural and no-till agroecosystems compared to conventional agricultural systems. Our results highlight that ecosystem type shapes broad-scale taxonomic richness, while local soil moisture critically influences soil biodiversity and spatial community composition, emphasizing the multi-scale drivers of soil biodiversity.
{"title":"Biodiversity co-variation patterns in a range of soil organism taxa across highly contrasting ecosystems","authors":"Axelle Tortosa , Grégoire T. Freschet , Jean Trap , Alain Brauman , Yvan Capowiez , Sylvain Coq , Jim Félix-Faure , Nathalie Fromin , Laure Gandois , Maritxu Guiresse , Raoul Huys , Antoine Lecerf , Jean-Marc Limousin , Alexandru Milcu , Johanne Nahmani , Agnès Robin , José Miguel Sánchez-Pérez , Sabine Sauvage , Tiphaine Tallec , Claire Wittling , Stephan Hattenschwiler","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110093","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110093","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil biodiversity as a critical component of terrestrial ecosystems and their functioning varies across spatial scales and environmental conditions. However, it remains unclear whether and how biodiversity patterns co-vary among different soil taxa across ecosystems.</div><div>In this study, we compared diversity patterns of plants, earthworms, nematodes, bacteria, and fungi, as five major groups of soil organisms, across six strongly contrasting ecosystems ranging from mountain peatland to crop fields, including within-ecosystem variation in soil moisture. We hypothesized co-variation in taxonomic richness (alpha diversity) and composition (beta diversity) of multiple groups of soil organisms across ecosystems, moisture conditions and spatial scales.</div><div>In partial contrast to our initial hypothesis, co-variation in the taxonomic richness among these groups was limited, though significant positive associations were found among bacteria, fungi, and earthworms across all sites. Plant diversity showed distinct associations with soil organism diversity, particularly with earthworms and bacteria, highlighting above–belowground biodiversity linkages. Beta diversity showed substantial co-variation among all soil organism groups, reflecting a spatial coupling of their communities that was influenced by differences in soil moisture conditions. These patterns were more pronounced in near-natural and no-till agroecosystems compared to conventional agricultural systems. Our results highlight that ecosystem type shapes broad-scale taxonomic richness, while local soil moisture critically influences soil biodiversity and spatial community composition, emphasizing the multi-scale drivers of soil biodiversity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110093"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145972563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110083
Timothy J. Fahey, Joseph B. Yavitt
Tree roots are the principal source of stabilized organic matter in forest soils, supplying carbon in the form of detritus (root turnover) and rhizodeposition from living roots (rhizosphere carbon flux; RCF). The magnitude of these processes is highly uncertain owing to the difficulty of measurement in situ in mature forests. We estimated RCF in twelve monospecific forest plantations growing on a common soil in central New York using a root ingrowth 13C dilution technique. The plantations included eight tree species, four each with ectomycorrhizal or arbuscular mycorrhizal associations. We hypothesized that RCF would be greater for arbuscular mycorrhizal than ectomycorrhizal tree species and that this contrast in mycorrhizal type would account for most species’ differences. Our estimates of RCF averaged 109 g C m−2 y−1 in the upper 0–20 cm soil interval, and the estimates differed significantly among tree species with mostly greater values for arbuscular mycorrhizal than ectomycorrhizal tree species. Although a large amount of new carbon was added by RCF, the carbon content of rhizosphere soil was unchanged, suggesting that RCF primed the mineralization of soil organic matter (SOM) in the ingrowth root cores. Our measurements indicate that RCF comprises an average of about 20 % of aboveground net primary production in these forest plantations and suggest that similar amounts of carbon are added to soil by root turnover and RCF.
树根是森林土壤中稳定有机质的主要来源,以碎屑(根周转)和活根的根沉积(根际碳通量;RCF)的形式提供碳。由于难以在成熟森林中就地测量,这些过程的大小极不确定。我们使用根向生长13C稀释技术估算了生长在纽约中部共同土壤上的12个单种森林人工林的RCF。这些人工林包括8种树种,每种树种4种具有外生菌根或丛枝菌根关联。我们假设丛枝菌根树种的RCF大于外生菌根树种,并且这种菌根类型的差异可以解释大多数物种的差异。我们估计的RCF在0 ~ 20 cm土壤间隔上平均为109 g C m−2 y−1,树种之间的估计值存在显著差异,丛枝菌根树种的估计值大多高于外生菌根树种。虽然RCF增加了大量的新碳,但根际土壤的碳含量没有变化,表明RCF启动了长生根芯土壤有机质(SOM)的矿化。我们的测量表明,RCF平均约占这些人工林地上净初级产量的20%,并表明根系周转和RCF向土壤中添加了相似数量的碳。
{"title":"Rhizosphere carbon flux of eight temperate tree species growing on a common site","authors":"Timothy J. Fahey, Joseph B. Yavitt","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110083","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110083","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tree roots are the principal source of stabilized organic matter in forest soils, supplying carbon in the form of detritus (root turnover) and rhizodeposition from living roots (rhizosphere carbon flux; RCF). The magnitude of these processes is highly uncertain owing to the difficulty of measurement <em>in situ</em> in mature forests. We estimated RCF in twelve monospecific forest plantations growing on a common soil in central New York using a root ingrowth <sup>13</sup>C dilution technique. The plantations included eight tree species, four each with ectomycorrhizal or arbuscular mycorrhizal associations. We hypothesized that RCF would be greater for arbuscular mycorrhizal than ectomycorrhizal tree species and that this contrast in mycorrhizal type would account for most species’ differences. Our estimates of RCF averaged 109 g C m<sup>−2</sup> y<sup>−1</sup> in the upper 0–20 cm soil interval, and the estimates differed significantly among tree species with mostly greater values for arbuscular mycorrhizal than ectomycorrhizal tree species. Although a large amount of new carbon was added by RCF, the carbon content of rhizosphere soil was unchanged, suggesting that RCF primed the mineralization of soil organic matter (SOM) in the ingrowth root cores. Our measurements indicate that RCF comprises an average of about 20 % of aboveground net primary production in these forest plantations and suggest that similar amounts of carbon are added to soil by root turnover and RCF.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110083"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110086
Ziliang Yin , Xin Sun , Tijiu Cai , Xiaoxin Sun
Shrub encroachment disrupts the dynamic balance between soil organic carbon (SOC) input and output in marsh ecosystems, and directly influences SOC accumulation. Traditional paradigms primarily attribute SOC dynamics to plant traits and soil physicochemical properties, whereas emerging evidence indicates underestimated roles of microbial communities in this process. This study used laboratory incubation, 13C NMR spectroscopy, and metagenomic sequencing to explore the key factors regulating marsh SOC stock and stability across four shrub encroachment stages in the largest temperate marsh in Northeast China. The results demonstrate that, although shrub encroachment significantly increased potential sources (e.g., marsh plant biomass and carbon stock) of SOC, low carbon quality prevented a substantial increase in SOC stocks and stability. Notably, soil microbial communities were pivotal drivers in regulating SOC dynamics in plant-soil-microbe interactions. Six carbon fixation pathways dominated by abundant and transitional taxa explained only 0.07 % of SOC stock variation, whereas the synergistic interactions between microorganisms and plants or soil had the most significant effect on SOC stocks. In contrast, the variation in SOC stability was primarily attributed to changes in carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) gene profiles dominated by rare taxa (61.26 %), surpassing the explanatory power of plant traits and soil physicochemical properties. Additionally, rare taxa substantially influenced synergistic interactions among nitrogen cycling, phosphorus cycling, carbon fixation, and CAZyme genes via the quorum sensing (QS) pathway. This study provides novel insights into the effects of plant-soil-microbial interactions on marsh SOC transformation during shrub encroachment, highlighting the potential of rare taxa to release available nutrients and accelerating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling.
{"title":"Rare and abundant soil microbes coordinate C, N, P, and quorum sensing pathways to destabilize SOC in shrub-encroached marshes","authors":"Ziliang Yin , Xin Sun , Tijiu Cai , Xiaoxin Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110086","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110086","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Shrub encroachment disrupts the dynamic balance between soil organic carbon (SOC) input and output in marsh ecosystems, and directly influences SOC accumulation. Traditional paradigms primarily attribute SOC dynamics to plant traits and soil physicochemical properties, whereas emerging evidence indicates underestimated roles of microbial communities in this process. This study used laboratory incubation, <sup>13</sup>C NMR spectroscopy, and metagenomic sequencing to explore the key factors regulating marsh SOC stock and stability across four shrub encroachment stages in the largest temperate marsh in Northeast China. The results demonstrate that, although shrub encroachment significantly increased potential sources (e.g., marsh plant biomass and carbon stock) of SOC, low carbon quality prevented a substantial increase in SOC stocks and stability. Notably, soil microbial communities were pivotal drivers in regulating SOC dynamics in plant-soil-microbe interactions. Six carbon fixation pathways dominated by abundant and transitional taxa explained only 0.07 % of SOC stock variation, whereas the synergistic interactions between microorganisms and plants or soil had the most significant effect on SOC stocks. In contrast, the variation in SOC stability was primarily attributed to changes in carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) gene profiles dominated by rare taxa (61.26 %), surpassing the explanatory power of plant traits and soil physicochemical properties. Additionally, rare taxa substantially influenced synergistic interactions among nitrogen cycling, phosphorus cycling, carbon fixation, and CAZyme genes via the quorum sensing (QS) pathway. This study provides novel insights into the effects of plant-soil-microbial interactions on marsh SOC transformation during shrub encroachment, highlighting the potential of rare taxa to release available nutrients and accelerating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110086"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110085
Shunyin Huang, Chen Huang, Yan Xiao
Global soil microplastics (MPs) pollution has become increasingly severe and is exerting persistent impacts on soil bacterial communities. Thus, a thorough investigation is imperative to elucidate the integrated impacts of MPs on soil microbial diversity, community composition, network patterns, and potential metabolic functions. In this study, we conducted a data synthesis of 182 publications and demonstrated that MPs exert pronounced adverse impacts on soil bacterial communities. Firstly, MPs significantly reduced soil bacterial alpha diversity (−1.1 % ∼ −3.2 %), with stronger inhibitory effects observed for conventional MPs, small size particles, and high dose MPs exposure. Further, biodegradable MPs significantly decreased the heterogeneity of soil bacterial communities, whereas conventional MPs increased it. Furthermore, the presence of MPs induced substantial changes in both the composition and structure of bacterial communities. Briefly, MPs significantly decreased the relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes, Campilobacterota, and WPS2 while increased the relative abundance of class Alphaproteobacteria and Blastocatellia. Meanwhile, MPs diminished the complexity and stability of bacterial co-occurrence networks, suggesting the soil microbial community exhibits higher vulnerability to environmental disturbances. The bacterial network exhibited a keystone transition favoring organic-degrading taxa. Finally, functional profiling showed significant upregulation of genes associated with human pathogenesis, organic degradation, and nitrogen fixation, while downregulation of nitrification. Collectively, our results highlight the pervasive negative impacts of MPs on soil bacterial communities, providing critical insights for assessing the ecological consequences of soil MPs pollution.
{"title":"Microplastics reduce soil bacterial alpha diversity and network stability","authors":"Shunyin Huang, Chen Huang, Yan Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110085","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110085","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global soil microplastics (MPs) pollution has become increasingly severe and is exerting persistent impacts on soil bacterial communities. Thus, a thorough investigation is imperative to elucidate the integrated impacts of MPs on soil microbial diversity, community composition, network patterns, and potential metabolic functions. In this study, we conducted a data synthesis of 182 publications and demonstrated that MPs exert pronounced adverse impacts on soil bacterial communities. Firstly, MPs significantly reduced soil bacterial alpha diversity (−1.1 % ∼ −3.2 %), with stronger inhibitory effects observed for conventional MPs, small size particles, and high dose MPs exposure. Further, biodegradable MPs significantly decreased the heterogeneity of soil bacterial communities, whereas conventional MPs increased it. Furthermore, the presence of MPs induced substantial changes in both the composition and structure of bacterial communities. Briefly, MPs significantly decreased the relative abundance of phylum <em>Firmicutes</em>, <em>Campilobacterota</em>, and <em>WPS2</em> while increased the relative abundance of class <em>Alphaproteobacteria</em> and <em>Blastocatellia</em>. Meanwhile, MPs diminished the complexity and stability of bacterial co-occurrence networks, suggesting the soil microbial community exhibits higher vulnerability to environmental disturbances. The bacterial network exhibited a keystone transition favoring organic-degrading taxa. Finally, functional profiling showed significant upregulation of genes associated with human pathogenesis, organic degradation, and nitrogen fixation, while downregulation of nitrification. Collectively, our results highlight the pervasive negative impacts of MPs on soil bacterial communities, providing critical insights for assessing the ecological consequences of soil MPs pollution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110085"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110084
Boyu Jia , Siyu Zhang , Ningning Wu , Liqi Cai , Zhongdan Li , Shanquan Wang
The integration of biotic- and abiotic-dehalogenation strategies offers a transformative approach to remediating organohalide-contaminated soils, harnessing the synergistic benefits of biological selectivity and abiotic efficiency. However, challenges in modulating electron flux partitioning at biotic-abiotic interfaces and in reconstructing adaptive microbial metabolic networks continue to impede practical implementation.
This review comprehensively synthesizes recent advances in synergistic biotic-abiotic strategies for removing organohalide pollutants from contaminated sites, with a particular emphasis on iron-sulfur mineral species (FemSn)-mediated electron transfer mechanisms and the regulation of microbial metabolic networks. In this framework, electrons are transferred via surface Fe–S active sites on mineral phases, enabling electron tunneling at interfaces to microbial extracellular carriers and soluble redox mediators that coordinate flux in soil dechlorination system. This review begins with respiratory electron transport chains in organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB), while highlighting evolutionary trade-offs in electron carrier utilization and energy conservation. It then explores microbial interactions, showing how crystallographic defect engineering enhances enzymatic activation via electron tunneling and mitigates nanomaterial toxicity. Extending to ecosystem dynamics, it maps electron flux routing across microbial consortia, showing in which manner nanowire topologies and redox mediators orchestrate dehalogenation pathways amid metabolic competition. Finally, it bridges scales through machine learning-driven multi-omics integration, translating atomic-scale Fe–S coordination patterns into predictive models for optimizing electron flux. Overall, this review provides critical insights for designing next-generation dehalogenation remediation strategies that maximize biotic-abiotic synergies by precisely controlling electron flux.
{"title":"Advances in synergistic biotic-abiotic dehalogenation in soil: FemSn-mediated electron transfer and microbial metabolic network regulation","authors":"Boyu Jia , Siyu Zhang , Ningning Wu , Liqi Cai , Zhongdan Li , Shanquan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of biotic- and abiotic-dehalogenation strategies offers a transformative approach to remediating organohalide-contaminated soils, harnessing the synergistic benefits of biological selectivity and abiotic efficiency. However, challenges in modulating electron flux partitioning at biotic-abiotic interfaces and in reconstructing adaptive microbial metabolic networks continue to impede practical implementation.</div><div>This review comprehensively synthesizes recent advances in synergistic biotic-abiotic strategies for removing organohalide pollutants from contaminated sites, with a particular emphasis on iron-sulfur mineral species (Fe<sub>m</sub>S<sub>n</sub>)-mediated electron transfer mechanisms and the regulation of microbial metabolic networks. In this framework, electrons are transferred <em>via</em> surface Fe–S active sites on mineral phases, enabling electron tunneling at interfaces to microbial extracellular carriers and soluble redox mediators that coordinate flux in soil dechlorination system. This review begins with respiratory electron transport chains in organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB), while highlighting evolutionary trade-offs in electron carrier utilization and energy conservation. It then explores microbial interactions, showing how crystallographic defect engineering enhances enzymatic activation <em>via</em> electron tunneling and mitigates nanomaterial toxicity. Extending to ecosystem dynamics, it maps electron flux routing across microbial consortia, showing in which manner nanowire topologies and redox mediators orchestrate dehalogenation pathways amid metabolic competition. Finally, it bridges scales through machine learning-driven multi-omics integration, translating atomic-scale Fe–S coordination patterns into predictive models for optimizing electron flux. Overall, this review provides critical insights for designing next-generation dehalogenation remediation strategies that maximize biotic-abiotic synergies by precisely controlling electron flux.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110084"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145947708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil biodiversity monitoring requires standardized and practical sample storage methods, particularly for large-scale surveys. Yet, the influence of the soil storage conditions on eDNA-based assessments of microbial and faunal communities remains a key concern. Here, we assessed whether air-drying of soils at room temperature alters microbial (prokaryotes, fungi, micro-eukaryotes) and faunal (nematodes, annelids, micro-arthropods) abundance and diversity compared to freezing at −20 °C across different land-use types and management intensities through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and multi-marker DNA metabarcoding. We sampled topsoil (0–10 cm) from 42 sites of the Swiss Central Plateau spanning forests, grasslands, arable lands, orchards, wetlands, and urban areas. Forests, grasslands and arable lands were sampled in sites varying in management intensities. Across land-use types and management intensities, air-drying of soil followed by four to eight weeks of storage at room temperature or at −20 °C and freezing soil directly yielded comparable gene abundances, alpha-diversity, and community structure for all microbial and faunal groups. Moreover, microbial and faunal community structure were consistently shaped by land-use types and soil physicochemical variables regardless of the soil storage method used. These findings demonstrate that air-drying is a cost-effective and reliable method for short-term storing soil samples in large-scale biodiversity monitoring without compromising data quality.
{"title":"Air-drying of soil preserves microbial and faunal eDNA abundance and diversity regardless of land-use type or management intensity","authors":"Xingguo Han , Jessica Cuartero , Verena Koppe , Seraina Nohl , Astrid Sneyders , Karen Vancampenhout , Beat Frey , Aline Frossard","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110082","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110082","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil biodiversity monitoring requires standardized and practical sample storage methods, particularly for large-scale surveys. Yet, the influence of the soil storage conditions on eDNA-based assessments of microbial and faunal communities remains a key concern. Here, we assessed whether air-drying of soils at room temperature alters microbial (prokaryotes, fungi, micro-eukaryotes) and faunal (nematodes, annelids, micro-arthropods) abundance and diversity compared to freezing at −20 °C across different land-use types and management intensities through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and multi-marker DNA metabarcoding. We sampled topsoil (0–10 cm) from 42 sites of the Swiss Central Plateau spanning forests, grasslands, arable lands, orchards, wetlands, and urban areas. Forests, grasslands and arable lands were sampled in sites varying in management intensities. Across land-use types and management intensities, air-drying of soil followed by four to eight weeks of storage at room temperature or at −20 °C and freezing soil directly yielded comparable gene abundances, alpha-diversity, and community structure for all microbial and faunal groups. Moreover, microbial and faunal community structure were consistently shaped by land-use types and soil physicochemical variables regardless of the soil storage method used. These findings demonstrate that air-drying is a cost-effective and reliable method for short-term storing soil samples in large-scale biodiversity monitoring without compromising data quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 110082"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}