Soil Biology & Biochemistry最新文献

{"title":"Brine-induced soil gradients drive microbial community assembly and ecological partitioning","authors":"Dasiel Obregon, Elizabeth Haack, Micaela Tosi, Ken Hahn, Irene Montero, Kari Dunfield","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109936","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109936","url":null,"abstract":"Brine (produced water) releases from oil and gas infrastructure alter soil physicochemical properties, disrupt vegetation, and affect microbial communities vital for soil function. We evaluated long-term brine disturbance effects on soil microbiota at a 25-hectare boreal site in northern Alberta, Canada. Soils, including both topsoil (A horizon) and subsoil (B horizon) layers, were sampled along four 300 m transects spanning undisturbed forest to brine-impacted areas. Soil gradients intensified toward brine-impacted zones, with electrical conductivity (EC) increasing from 0.1 to 40 dS m^-1, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) from 0.1 to 41, and pH from 4 to 8. Microbial diversity declined with rising EC, SAR, and pH, however, even in very strongly saline soils (EC > 16 dS m^-1), Shannon diversity indices remained above 7. Approximately one-third of the microbial genera shifted in abundance along these gradients, with salinity-adapted taxa enriched and key oligotrophic groups declining. We identified tipping points in salinity, sodicity, and pH gradients—at EC 1.9 and 4.2 dS m^-1, SAR 3.5 and 6.4, and pH ∼5.5—coinciding with major shifts in community composition. Habitat partitioning was evident, with 27% and 39% of taxa specialized to unimpacted and brine-impacted soils, respectively, while 20% were generalists. Network analysis revealed denser community assembly but reduced robustness in brine-impacted soils, indicating greater vulnerability to environmental perturbations. These findings highlight how soil microbiota reflect both the detrimental effects of brine disturbance and adaptive responses, underscoring their value as bioindicators for soil health assessment in salt-impacted landscapes.","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144747900","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}

{"title":"Recoupling C and N cycles: a fertiliser template to synchronise N supply and limit C priming?","authors":"Matthew R. Redding, Ian Phillips, Brianna C. Smith, Tara A. Rogan, Armando Navas, Sheikh M.F. Rabbi","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109923","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109923","url":null,"abstract":"Despite their advantages in plant productivity, plant uptake from conventional nitrogen (N) fertilisers is around 50%. To test whether recoupling carbon (C) and N cycles can decrease losses and increase N use efficiency (NUE), four experiments were conducted. Two growth accelerator pot experiments in contrasting soils were conducted with N additions representing a range of molar C to N ratios (C_mol:N_mol; 0.5 to 11) formulated from urea (U) and waste-derived materials (sugarcane trash, Ct; pelletised beef manure, B; dairy digestate, D; insect larvae, L; protein meal from insect larvae, P; and anaerobic pond sludge, S) with and without a nitrification inhibitor (I). Two reaction vessel experiments were conducted for measuring N-transformation based on continuous on-line nitrous oxide (N₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) monitoring, and soil analyses. Adverse impacts of these stoichiometric formulations on C priming were examined using natural abundance isotopic signatures. Relative to urea, higher N use efficiency (∼2 to 3 times) was achieved with waste derived (i.e., D, S, B, and P) formulations with I, with and without C. Increased C_mol:N_mol ratio increased post-experiment N retention in the fertiliser layer and delayed N uptake by the plant. Carbon priming losses were least with formulation C_mol:N_mol from 3.1 to 6.2. Our results suggest waste-derived stoichiometrically tailored formulations with an inhibitor have potential to avoid soil C priming, deliver better NUE, decrease N leaching losses, and increase N stocks in the soil profile.","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"715 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144737518","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}

{"title":"The size-variation of microplastics alters plant nitrogen uptake by regulating soil gross nitrogen transformation rates","authors":"Xiaoqian Dan ,&nbsp;Mengqiu He ,&nbsp;Yuhong Wen ,&nbsp;Longwei Meng ,&nbsp;Meirong Huang ,&nbsp;Shending Chen ,&nbsp;Qilin Zhu ,&nbsp;Yanzheng Wu ,&nbsp;Shuirong Tang ,&nbsp;Ahmed S. Elrys ,&nbsp;Zucong Cai ,&nbsp;Jinbo Zhang ,&nbsp;Lei Meng ,&nbsp;Christoph Müller","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109934","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109934","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The accumulation of microplastics (MPs) has been shown to affect ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling. However, direct quantitative studies investigating how variations in MPs type and size affect soil N processes and plant N uptake are still lacking. Thus, a¹⁵N tracing was carried out to investigate the effects of variations in size (i.e., 1200–1400, 600–700, 120–150, 25–38 μm) of conventional polyethylene (PE-MPs) and biodegradable polylactic acid MPs (PLA-MPs) on the interactions between soil gross N transformation and plant N uptake rates. Results showed that variations in MPs size affected plant N uptake through regulating soil gross N transformation rates, with significant differences between PE-MPs and PLA-MPs. For PE-MPs, plant N uptake was significantly higher under the medium size (i.e., 600–700 μm) than other sizes. This was mainly due to the significantly higher nitrification rate (13 mg N kg⁻¹ day⁻¹) at 600–700 μm compared to other sizes, in turn, increasing NO₃⁻ supply to plants. Furthermore, decreased NH₄⁺ immobilization (<em>I</em>_<em>NH4</em>) and increased dissimilatory NO₃⁻ reduction to NH₄⁺ in 600–700 μm PE-MPs resulted in increasing NH₄⁺ residence time, which ultimately could increase the available NH₄⁺ to plants. For PLA-MPs, plant N uptake was significantly reduced by small size (i.e., 25–38 μm). Despite N mineralization rate (<em>M</em>) in 25–38 μm was 6–11 times higher than other sizes, <em>I</em>_<em>NH4</em> was much higher than <em>M</em>, resulting in a stimulation of NH₄⁺ residence time, in turn, inhibiting plant NH₄⁺ uptake. Lower autotrophic nitrification rate due to decreased gene abundances of nitrification, as well as much higher NO₃⁻ immobilization rate suppressed plant NO₃⁻ uptake in 25–38 μm PLA-MPs. Our findings highlight that the extent to which MPs influence N processes depends on their type and size. The small-size degradable MPs can pose a major threat to plants, so the managements of degradable plastics requires special attentions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109934"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144737772","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}

{"title":"Functional molecular diversity of dissolved organic matter explained by predicted genome size of soil microbial communities","authors":"Rachelle E. Davenport ,&nbsp;Laurel M. Lynch ,&nbsp;Cassandra J. Wattenburger ,&nbsp;Daniel H. Buckley ,&nbsp;Johannes Lehmann","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109933","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109933","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microbial decomposition of plant litter has been shown to decrease the molecular diversity of dissolved organic matter (DOM), but it remains unclear whether these DOM formation processes are conserved across ecosystems with differing microbial communities. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated plant litter decomposition and DOM formation over a period of 150 days using materials sourced from five different ecosystem types. We tested whether microbial diversity alters DOM molecular diversity by manipulating the microbial community structure through serial dilution to produce “high” (10°) and “low” (10⁻¹⁰) diversity communities from each ecosystem. We measured microbial richness, microbial diversity and predicted genome size using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DOM molecular diversity using tandem liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We found that the functional molecular diversity of DOM across ecosystems was correlated with the average predicted genome size, a proxy for the metabolic potential of microbial communities (Pearson's <em>r</em> = 0.61, p = 0.008). Ecosystem type explained the most variation in DOM composition (ADONIS PERMANOVA; R² = 0.89, p-value = 0.001), but specific microbial phyla (e.g., Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Chloroflexi) and genera (e.g., <em>Sphingomonas</em>, <em>Stenotrophomonas</em>, <em>Leifsonia</em>) were also correlated with DOM composition across the five ecosystems. Although DOM molecular richness was most strongly correlated with ecosystem type (F_(4,19) = 6.21; p-value = 0.002), DOM functional molecular diversity had a stronger relationship with the predicted genome size of the microbial community (F_(4,19) = 21.18; p-value = 0.0002). The positive relationship between DOM functional molecular diversity and microbial community genome size suggests that a larger microbial metabolic capacity produces a greater diversity of functionally dissimilar DOM compounds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109933"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144720307","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}

{"title":"Soil aggregates stability is evidently enhanced by super-binding of the N-terminal disordered tail of glomalin to soil minerals","authors":"Minghui Jia, Youchao Wang, Jin He, Shan-Ho Chou, Dehua Luo, Linchuan Fang, Jingtao Hou, Yuke Fan, Wenjun Zhang, Hansong Chen, Dejian Zhou, Yurong Liu, Youzhi Feng, Luuk Koopal, Wenfeng Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109908","url":null,"abstract":"Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) extracted from soil is considered crucial for the formation and stability of soil aggregates. However, due to limitations in extraction purity and interference from co-extracted products, the actual contribution of pure glomalin produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to soil structure improvement and its specific mechanism of action remain elusive. Here, genetic engineering and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) are introduced to obtain purified glomalin and to determine its homo-tetradecamer structure. This allowed investigations of the effect of pure glomalin on soil aggregate stability and the specific glomalin-mineral interaction mechanism. The results showed that addition of glomalin significantly enhanced the formation of soil water-stable aggregates and soil macroaggregates. This enhancement was primarily attributed to the strong binding of glomalin to soil minerals, as evidenced by single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectrum (ATR-FTIR) experiments. Glomalin structural analysis, comparison of its amino sequence alignment with that of <em>Escherichia coli</em> heat shock protein 60 (<em>E. coli</em> Hsp60) and mineral binding experiments with several glomalin related mutants highlighted that the N-terminus disordered tail of glomalin composed of ∼39 amino acids were crucial for the glomalin super binding ability. These findings advance the understanding of glomalin’s intrinsic mechanism for improving soil structure and open the opportunity for mass production of this ecologically important protein as a soil amendment.","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144720308","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}

{"title":"Trophic interactions and microbial-derived carbon in porosphere of arable fields","authors":"Janne Salminen ,&nbsp;Jari Hyväluoma ,&nbsp;Bartosz Adamczyk ,&nbsp;Sylwia Adamczyk ,&nbsp;Petri Niemi ,&nbsp;Sami Kinnunen ,&nbsp;Arttu Miettinen","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109924","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109924","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil physical properties, such as porosity, are recognized to play an important role in the formation of soil organism communities and may regulate carbon sequestration in the soil ecosystem. However, despite their eminent importance, the relation between the abundance of soil animals, microbial necromass and pore space has been rarely demonstrated empirically. In this study, soil visible macroporosity (measured using X-ray computed tomography), microbial necromass (a pool of soil organic carbon), and densities of nematode groups were measured in the topsoil layer at a depth of 10 cm in four arable fields in southern Finland (clay and loam soils). Bacterial necromass was positively correlated with visible macroporosity smaller than 428 μm in size. Fungal necromass was marginally correlated (p = 0.059) with pores &lt;233 μm in size. The abundance of bacterial feeding nematodes (and unknown juveniles) scaled positively with microbial necromasses, visible macropores smaller than 700 μm and the total visible macroporosity. The abundance of other feeding groups was independent of soil visible macroporosity. However, trophic interactions between feeding groups of nematodes appeared to be weak in this soil layer. Results indicate strong bottom-up regulation between microbes and microbial feeding nematodes. Microbial necromass, as an important organic fraction in soil, was clearly related to small soil macropores (&lt;428 μm).</div><div>These findings provide novel insights into how soil architecture, particularly macroporosity below 700 μm, influences the spatial ecology of soil organisms — an aspect that has received limited attention in boreal agroecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109924"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144701601","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}

{"title":"Climate change impacts on organic carbon cycling in European alpine soils","authors":"K. Bright ,&nbsp;B. Dienes ,&nbsp;M. Keiluweit ,&nbsp;C. Rixen ,&nbsp;M. Aeppli","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109891","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109891","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review focuses on impacts of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling in alpine soils, with a specific emphasis on input and loss processes. In alpine regions, low temperatures and variable snow cover govern plant productivity and microbial activity, leading to unique SOC dynamics. However, rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and reduced snow cover threaten to disrupt these processes, potentially leading to significant SOC losses. Changes in vegetation, driven by climatic shifts, further complicate the dynamics of SOC by modifying the quantity and chemical composition of organic inputs into the soil. Furthermore, increased temperatures are expected to accelerate microbial activity, potentially decreasing SOC stocks and increasing carbon losses. How changing loss and input rates alter net effects of climatic changes on SOC stocks remains a persistent knowledge gap. Addressing this gap is critical for predicting carbon cycling in alpine ecosystems and formulating strategies to mitigate climate impacts. This review highlights the urgent need for targeted research on alpine SOC dynamics to better anticipate the response of these susceptible environments in the face of a rapidly changing climate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109891"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144664494","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}

{"title":"Depth-dependent dynamics of microarthropods in forest floors along temperature and soil phosphorus gradients","authors":"Jingxuan Olivia Chen ,&nbsp;Antoine Rocaboy ,&nbsp;André Junggebauer ,&nbsp;Jing-Zhong Lu ,&nbsp;Stefan Scheu","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest floors buffer harsh environmental conditions and insulate soil, thereby mitigating the effect of climate extremes on soil fauna. Conversely, the soil fauna is key for shaping the structure of forest floors. We investigated the distribution patterns of two major decomposer microarthropod groups (Collembola and Oribatida) across the different layers of the forest floor (Ol, Of/Oh) and the upper mineral soil (Ah) of 12 forest sites representing temperature and phosphorus gradients. A total of 58 Collembola and 144 Oribatida species were recorded. Phosphorus as main factor neither significantly affected the abundance of Collembola nor that of Oribatida. Oribatida richness significantly increased with increasing temperature but decreased with increasing phosphorus level. The abundance, richness and biomass of both microarthropod groups were at a maximum in the Of/Oh layer followed by the Ah and Ol layer. Collembola and Oribatida community structure also varied with temperature and phosphorus levels but this depended on layer. We identified soil and litter carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, pH, Gram-positive bacterial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and thickness of Ol and Of/Oh layers as important drivers for Collembola and Oribatida communities. These findings highlight the critical influence of temperature, phosphorus and forest floor stratification on soil microarthropod communities, alongside additional other soil properties. The differential responses of Collembola and Oribatida to temperature and phosphorus gradients underscore functional and ecological differences between these groups, with Oribatida being more sensitive to climatic and nutrient changes. Overall, the results emphasize the importance of maintaining the structural integrity of forest floors to support diverse and resilient soil fauna communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109922"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652104","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}

{"title":"Early successional systems support nematode community resistance to drought stress","authors":"Tvisha Martin ,&nbsp;Sarah Evans ,&nbsp;Christine D. Sprunger","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Variable rainfall is expected to increase with climate change and will lead to more drought stress. The impact of drought on nematode resistance within agricultural systems that vary in management is unknown. Free-living nematodes can serve as bioindicators of climatic stress because they are sensitive to disturbance and span the <em>r-K</em> strategist continuum. Here we aim to 1) understand how management intensity impacts the resistance of nematode communities to drought and 2) assess how the immediate alleviation of drought impacts nematode communities in contrasting agroecosystems. This study utilized the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research trial where three rainfall manipulations were induced (drought, variable, and control) in two land uses (an early successional and a no-till annual row-crop). Sampling for nematode communities was conducted prior to drought implementation (pre-drought), six weeks after drought was induced (peak-drought), and one day after re-wetting (post-drought). There was little shift in nematode community structure or distribution along an <em>r-K</em> strategist continuum at peak-drought in the early successional land use. In the no-till land use, fungivore <em>r</em><em>-</em>strategist nematode abundances declined with drought stress, indicating overall less resistance to drought. Similar patterns persisted post-drought, whereby nematodes within the early successional land use remained unchanged, while nematodes within the no-till land use were slower to shift in response to alleviation. This study demonstrates that early successional land uses are valuable for fostering nematode communities that are resistant to drought. Moreover, drought stress impacts nematode community dynamics, which has implications for ecosystem functioning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 109919"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652167","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}

{"title":"Life strategies of nematodes determine energy patterns of food webs over 100 Years of primary succession in a salt marsh chronosequence","authors":"Jiyu Jia ,&nbsp;Ron de Goede","doi":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109921","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109921","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding nematode community dynamics along succession gradients is critical for predicting ecosystem responses to environmental changes. However, studies on the dynamics of nematode communities and their associated food webs along chronosequences remain limited. We sampled soils along a well-established salt marsh chronosequence that spans more than a century of natural succession, and quantified nematode communities. The result showed that total nematode abundances exhibited a curved relationship with the stage of succession, peaking at intermediate stages. However, the abundance of different trophic and life strategy groups showed different responses to succession due to their specific responses to soil and plant properties. Bacterivores dominated in the early stage, while fungivores and herbivores dominated in the middle stage. Omnivores-carnivores only showed a significant increase in year-7, with no differences across other stages possibly due to high soil salinity suppressing top-down trophic regulation. K-strategist nematodes were more influenced by the stage of succession than r-strategist, correlating strongly with network stability, while r-strategists were more crucial for enhancing network complexity. Additionally, energy flow uniformity, rather than energy flux, in the nematode food webs was significantly correlated with the stage of succession. r-strategists contributed more to energy flux, whereas K-strategists were more essential for flow uniformity. These findings highlight the value of using nematodes as bioindicators to predict ecosystem stability and functions, emphasize the crucial role of nematode life strategists in shifting energy dynamics within nematode food webs during primary succession, and offer valuable guidance for the conservation and management of ecosystems undergoing natural succession.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21888,"journal":{"name":"Soil Biology & Biochemistry","volume":"209 ","pages":"Article 109921"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144645289","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}