Fungal diversity as a key driver of soil multifunctionality along a European latitudinal gradient

作者：Xingguo Han, Anna Doménech‐Pascual, Jonathan Donhauser, Constantin M. Zohner, Lidong Mo, Thomas W. Crowther, Joan Pere Casas‐Ruiz, Karen Jordaan, Jean‐Baptiste Ramond, Anna M. Romaní, Anders Priemé, Aline Frossard · 发表于：Geoderma · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117600 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology

• Soil multifunctionality (SMF) showed a hump-shape with latitude across Europe. • SMF peaked at mid-latitude temperate forests. • Fungal diversity decreased but prokaryotic diversity increased with latitude. • Fungal diversity but not prokaryotic diversity sustained SMF. • MAP, MAT, and soil pH and C/N ratio also contributed to SMF. Soils harbor a vast diversity of microorganisms and play a crucial role in global carbon and nutrients cycles. Yet, the extent and drivers of variations in soil microbial diversity and functioning across environmental gradients at continental scales remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the diversity and network complexity of prokaryotic and fungal communities and their relationships with soil multifunctionality (SMF) – an integrative index for C-, N- and P-cycling functions – along a 3,000-km latitudinal transect across Europe (37° to 62°N), spanning biomes from Mediterranean drylands, temperate to boreal forests. We found that SMF followed a hump-shaped latitudinal pattern, peaking at mid-latitude temperate forests and declining toward the southern Mediterranean drylands and northern boreal forests. Fungal alpha-diversity, together with mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), and soil pH and C/N ratio, were key contributors to SMF across latitudes, while prokaryotic alpha-diversity had little effect. Both prokaryotic and fungal communities were predominantly structured by dispersal limitation, land cover, clima...