Applied Soil Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Distinguishing fertilization effects on soil microbial indices from unintentional variations during a 60-week incubation at 5 and 25 °C","authors":"Ramia Jannoura ,&nbsp;Rainer Georg Joergensen","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106411","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106411","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The core aim of the current study was to distinguish true fertilization and temperature effects on soil microbial indices from unintentional variations of data obtained by well-known methods, sampled repeatedly during a 60-week period at 5 and 25 °C. Two floodplain soils were analyzed by chloroform fumigation-extraction (CFE), multi-substrate induced respiration (MSIR), and fungal ergosterol. The two soils were similar in texture and pH but differed in management history. The organic farming (OF) soil was fertilized with farmyard manure. The conventional farming (CF) soil regularly received inorganic fertilizers and straw, which increased the ergosterol content. The 60-week storage at 5 °C had generally a minor impact on all properties analyzed in the two soils. However, significant differences on microbial indices were repeatedly observed even at this temperature, which cannot be explained by growth and death processes. The reasons for these unintentional variations are discussed in detail. In the slightly alkaline to neutral range of the two soils, nitrification caused a small but consistent decline in soil pH. This was the most significant factor affecting functional microbial diversity, i.e., the response of soil microorganisms to glucose and other low-molecular weight substances of the MSIR approach. Microbial biomass C (MBC) by SIR as well as MBC and MBN by CFE declined by 30 to 40 % at 25 °C in comparison with 5 °C. The decline in ergosterol content was even stronger. The CF-soil exhibited a stronger loss in soil organic matter accompanied by a higher NO₃N mineralization rate, particularly, at 5 °C and a decline in K₂SO₄ extractable C at 25 °C. Also the microbial biomass and functional diversity of the OF-soil were more resilient to temperature-induced starvation than those of the CF-soil.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106411"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144885592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intermittent oxygenation is essential for modulating nitrite ammonifiers in an agricultural upland soil to minimize nitrogen loss","authors":"Xiaogang Wu ,&nbsp;Siyu Yu ,&nbsp;Weikang Sui ,&nbsp;Xinyu Zhang ,&nbsp;Ji Li ,&nbsp;Qiaoyu Wu ,&nbsp;Xiaojun Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106386","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106386","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), two divergent nitrogen metabolism pathways, share nitrite as a common intermediate during anaerobic reduction. Unlike denitrification, which involves nitrogen loss through gaseous nitrogen emission and nitrate leaching, DNRA is beneficial for the conservation of nitrogen. Previous studies have reported factors such as carbon and oxygen can independently affect DNRA. Nevertheless, the key mechanism underlying the joint regulation of aerobic carbon metabolism to nitrite ammonifiers in soil is still unclear. Here, microcosm experiments with agricultural upland soil were conducted under different aeration conditions supplemented with labile carbon to analyze the process of denitrification and DNRA. The results indicated that denitrification exclusively dominated nitrite reduction when the soil was directly placed in an anaerobic environment. Nonetheless, a significant increase in DNRA activity and the attenuation of denitrification were detected when the soil was incubated aerobically with the addition of glucose prior to anaerobic incubation. Specifically, up to 55.8 % of nitrite reduction switched to nitrogen conservation mainly via DNRA under high‑carbon conditions. Quantitative assays of the <em>nrfA</em> gene showed that aerobic incubation with 1000 mg·kg⁻¹ carbon addition increased DNRA by 3.74 ± 0.24 fold. Sequence analysis of <em>nrfA</em> gene indicated a marked shift in nitrite ammonifiers, with Firmicutes being the most altered phylum. These results intriguingly indicate that nitrate/nitrite metabolic flux in the soil could be regulated to enhance DNRA by stimulating facultative anaerobic nitrite ammonifiers such as <em>Sedimentibacter</em> under alternating aerobic and anaerobic environments with carbon metabolism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106386"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144889231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Waterlogging disrupts soil-microbe-metabolite interactions in the pepper rhizosphere, driving wilt disease emergence","authors":"Fan Yang ,&nbsp;Yuting Hong ,&nbsp;Xiaoke Chang ,&nbsp;Xin Wang ,&nbsp;Miaomiao Liu ,&nbsp;Weiwei Chen ,&nbsp;Baoming Tian ,&nbsp;Gongyao Shi ,&nbsp;Qiuju Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The phenomenon of pepper wilt has increasingly emerged as a significant factor contributing to yield reduction; however, a clear understanding of its underlying causes remains elusive. Inter-root microorganisms can influence plant growth by facilitating the transport of foreign substances into the plant through various mechanisms. We aimed to explore the key microbial factors affecting pepper wilt by analyzing pepper inter-root soils. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of soils from healthy and wilt-affected pepper regions, evaluating their physicochemical properties, microbiome composition, and metabolomics. Healthy soils were found to have higher magnesium, iron, potassium, microbial carbon, and cation exchange capacity. Microbiome sequencing showed that healthy soils were dominated by <em>PTLA13</em>, <em>Lysobacter</em>, <em>Sphingomonas</em>, <em>Pseudomonas</em>, <em>Mortierella</em>, <em>Bionectriaceae</em>, <em>Sordariales</em>, and <em>Onygenaceae</em>, which were more prevalent in healthy regions, whereas <em>A4b_norank</em> and <em>Agaricales</em> fungi were more commonplace in wilted regions. Metabolomics revealed GL glycerides in wilted regions and lignans and coumarins in healthy ones. We suggest that the combined effects of changes in soil physical and chemical properties, shifts in unique microbial communities, organisms, and variations in the increase or decrease in metabolite concentrations collectively impact the health of the microecology surrounding the pepper inter-root. These interactions may trigger abnormal plant growth responses to external stressors, potentially increasing the incidence of pepper wilt in subsequent years.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106404"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Subsurface organic ameliorant is beneficial in reducing inorganic carbon loss and improving carbon sequestration in saline soils","authors":"Ru Yu ,&nbsp;Jiashen Song ,&nbsp;Jie Zhou ,&nbsp;Fangdi Chang ,&nbsp;Xiaobin Li ,&nbsp;Jing Wang ,&nbsp;Haoruo Li ,&nbsp;Xia Zhang ,&nbsp;Hua Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuexin Zhang ,&nbsp;Hongyuan Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuyi Li","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106403","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106403","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Subsurface organic ameliorant is an appropriate practice to improve soil quality and enhancing crop yield in saline soils. However, its influence on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stock and interactions between SIC, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total carbon (C) stock remains unclear. A three-year field experiment (2020–2022) was thus conducted to investigate how surface and subsurface organic ameliorants (SA and SSA) chemically and biologically regulate SIC sequestration in saline soil (electric conductivity &gt;1000 μS cm⁻¹). After organic ameliorant for three years, 0–45 cm SIC stock under all treatments decreased by 1.0–4.5 t ha⁻¹. However, SIC stock was higher under SSA by 7 % as compared to non-amended controls (CK) at 15–30 cm. This was attributed to increased Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, microbial (bacterial and fungal) richness resulting from reduced Cl⁻ concentration and higher moisture, and suppressed CO₂ emissions. Beyond the 15–30 cm soil, CO₂ emissions and microbial richness also negatively and positively affected 0–15 cm SIC stock, respectively, while Mg²⁺ positively influenced 30–45 cm SIC stock. Furthermore, a negative correlation existed between SOC and SIC stock across 0–45 cm, contrasting with a positive correlation within 15–30 cm. The contribution of SIC to total C stock progressively increased with soil depths. These findings demonstrate that subsurface organic ameliorant can mitigate SIC loss and enhance total C sequestration in saline ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106403"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144885589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Alpine grassland degradation affects soil properties and the abundance of N cycling functional genes","authors":"Jiali Chai ,&nbsp;Tuo Yao ,&nbsp;Xian Wang ,&nbsp;Yang Lei ,&nbsp;Shuangxiong Li ,&nbsp;Shanmu He ,&nbsp;Changning Li ,&nbsp;Xiaowei Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106390","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106390","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau plays a crucial role in carbon and nitrogen fixation and the maintenance of biodiversity. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of grassland degradation on vegetation, soil, and microorganisms at different spatial scales; however, the response of N-cycling functional genes to grassland degradation and the relationship with microbial communities are still not clear. In this study, we used soil macrogenome sequencing technology to study the effects of alpine grassland degradation on soil properties, microbial communities, and functional genes of N cycling. The results showed that grassland degradation decreased soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, cellulose, sucrase, and urease, but increased pH. Grassland degradation has shifted the soil microbial community from eutrophic groups (Actinobacteria and Bacteroidota) to oligotrophic groups (Acidobacteria and Chloroflexota) could help communities adapt to environmental disturbance. In addition, grassland degradation increased the abundance of <em>pmoC-amoC</em> genes related to the soil nitrification process and decreased the abundance of soil assimilatory nitrate reduction and dissimilatory nitrate reduction genes (<em>nxrA</em>, <em>nasD</em>, <em>gdh</em>, <em>nirD</em>). Finally, structural equation modeling was constructed to show that soil TN and AN were the main soil factors driving the changes of N cycle functional genes. This study links soil microbial communities with functional genes of the N cycle to further deepen our understanding of degraded alpine grassland, and then to propose grassland conservation measures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106390"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of green manure rotations and alkaline amendments on soil health and assembly and function of bacterial communities","authors":"Jinchang Liang ,&nbsp;Heli Shi ,&nbsp;Bikun Xiang ,&nbsp;Luping Chi ,&nbsp;Rui Wang ,&nbsp;Guangwei Sun ,&nbsp;Yuxiao Sun ,&nbsp;Jing Wang ,&nbsp;Jun Tan ,&nbsp;Xiaoqiang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106368","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106368","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Green manure rotation and alkaline amendments have been extensively utilized in soil remediation and disease control, with notable effects. Despite their effectiveness, the specific health-promoting mechanisms of these soil management practices remain unclear. This study investigated the assembly and function of root-associated microbial communities in a five-year field treated with green manure rotation and lime amendments. Compared to the control (CK), the disease incidence decreased by 20.48 % and 43.18 % in the green manure rotation (VV) and combined green manure rotation and lime amendment (VL) treatments, respectively. Meanwhile, the VL treatment notably reduced the soil density and instant nitrogen, while enhancing pH levels, effective phosphorus, exchangeable calcium content, ventilation porosity, and catalase activity. Additionally, VL treatment reduced the diversity and co-occurrence networks of root-associated bacterial communities. Crucially, functional genes related to the nitrogen (e.g., nitrogen fixation) and carbon (e.g., including carbon fixation and degradation) cycles were enriched in the VV and VL treatments. Notably, genera such as <em>Chryseobacterium</em> and <em>Pseudomonas</em>, were significantly enriched in the VL treatment. Experimental validation revealed that the strain <em>Chryseobacterium</em> sp. Cas268 was particularly abundant in the VL treatment, aiding host resistance bacterial wilt, which may adopt various defence mechanisms for protection, including inhibiting the expression of virulence genes, reducing biofilm formation of pathogens, and rapid growth rates. In summary, this study indicated that green manure rotation and lime amendments enhance plant disease resistance by modifying soil physiochemical properties and enriching beneficial bacteria and offers insights into environmentally friendly approaches to disease control in agricultural systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106368"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yak excreta increases the soil N2O emissions by regulating denitrifying bacterial diversity in the alpine marsh, Southwest China","authors":"Xuelian Guo ,&nbsp;Wentao Li ,&nbsp;Shanfeng Wang ,&nbsp;Xin Fang ,&nbsp;Li Chen ,&nbsp;Chen Yang ,&nbsp;Hang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of livestock excreta on soil N₂O emissions has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, the mechanism of yak excreta on N₂O emissions of marsh soil has not been elucidated. A laboratory incubation experiment was undertaken to assess the impact of yak excreta inputs on soil N₂O emissions in the alpine marsh and ascertain the crucial distinctions between the consequences of adding yak dung (DA) and urine (UA). The N₂O emission flux and cumulative N₂O emissions from UA and DA were markedly elevated compared with those of the experimental reference cohort during the entire experimental period. While the overall emissions of N₂O from dung were found to surpass those from urine (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), after their addition to soils, the cumulative N₂O emission of UA was significantly superior to that of DA (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Dung input exerted a negative priming effect on N₂O emissions in marsh soil, while urine input had a positive priming effect. The addition of yak excreta altered soil pH, moisture, NH₄⁺-N and affected the diversity of <em>nirK</em> and <em>nirS</em>, as well as the activities of urease, N-Acetyl-β-glucosidase (NAG), nitrate reductase, and nitrite reductase (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). It can be further found from the results of the structural equation model that the pH, moisture, NH₄⁺-N, nitrite reductase activity, and Shannon indices of <em>nirK</em> and <em>nirS</em> were the main predictors for regulating N₂O emissions in marsh soil. These findings offer essential insights into the mechanisms underlying N₂O emissions associated with the application of yak manure in marsh soil, highlighting the vital function of denitrifying bacteria in alpine marsh ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106383"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144885588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the effects of plant species, functional traits, and groups on soil microbial diversity","authors":"P. Agarwal ,&nbsp;J.N. Barney ,&nbsp;B.D. Strahm ,&nbsp;B.L. Brown ,&nbsp;B.D. Badgley","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106392","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106392","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil microbes are crucial to mediating multiple ecosystem services and processes. However, manipulating the soil microbiome to reliably enhance the desired ecosystem services remains challenging. Inclusion of plant functional traits (PFTs) in understanding the effects of plant diversity on the soil microbiome might provide a path forward in designing plant communities as lever to alter soil microbial communities. Through this study, we sought to elucidate if the differences in PFTs corresponded to the differences in their associated soil microbiome. The plant species in our study spanned six taxonomic families exhibiting a wide range of growth forms, life forms, and rooting habits. A total of 29 distinct plant species, with five individuals each were grown in a randomized complete block design under greenhouse conditions. At the end of six weeks, individual pots were destructively sampled for characterizing PFTs and soil microbial communities. Our research revealed that differences in plant attributes, including species identity, functional groups and traits corresponded to differences in both alpha and beta diversities of soil microbial communities. Moreover, differences in soil bacterial community structure were primarily driven by plant biomass and root C:N ratios while individual bacterial taxa were more strongly correlated with root morphological traits. Also, soil bacterial communities differed more in response to the variation in plant functional traits than fungal communities in a short time (six weeks). These results indicate that plant functional traits could help better predict soil microbial community structure; however, more research is needed to assess how these relationships scale up to an ecosystem level.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106392"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stochastic processes and biotic interactions shape the structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities during secondary succession in high-altitude oldfields","authors":"Hui Ma ,&nbsp;Hans Henrik Bruun ,&nbsp;Yizhi Qiu ,&nbsp;Erliang Gao ,&nbsp;Yuxian Wang ,&nbsp;Søren Rosendahl ,&nbsp;Mohammad Bahram ,&nbsp;Zhigang Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106401","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106401","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing evidence suggests that both deterministic (‘niche’) and stochastic (‘neutral’) processes shape soil microbial communities, ultimately influencing ecosystem functioning. Despite studies on microbial community assembly, the role of species interactions remains poorly understood due to difficulties of assessment in natural habitats. We investigated the balance between the two kinds of assembly processes during secondary succession, in which the arrival of propagules is stochastic, while interspecific interactions and their impact on ecosystem properties are deterministic. We categorized succession into five stages using a well-dated chronosequence of abandoned arable lands on the Tibetan Plateau: stage 1 (continued arable land), stage 2 (arable abandoned for 2 years), stage 3 (arable abandoned for 10 years), stage 4 (arable abandoned for 20 years), and natural grassland. We examined the relationship between community assembly and successional stage, employing co-occurrence networks analysis to assess assembly processes of the soil microbial communities. We found that stochastic processes, i.e. dispersal limitation and drift - as estimated with beta Net Relatedness Index (βNRI) - dominated in shaping the structure of bacterial and fungal communities during succession. The relative abundance of ecological modules within microbial communities changed strongly with succession, mainly concurrent with soil carbon content, nitrogen content and soil moisture. Moreover, species interactions, inferred from ecological modules, were related to homogeneous selection, drift and dispersal limitation processes. Our finding highlights the significant role of biotic interactions in microbial community assembly, suggesting that future studies should integrate species interactions to better predict community dynamics and ecosystem trajectories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106401"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144863384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimating the microarthropod diversity in cropping systems by comparing ecological indices across Europe","authors":"Gaia Bigiotti ,&nbsp;Francesco Vitali ,&nbsp;Stefano Mocali ,&nbsp;Giovanni L'Abate ,&nbsp;Eligio Malusà ,&nbsp;Dawid Kozacki ,&nbsp;Irena Bertoncelj ,&nbsp;Morgane Ourry ,&nbsp;Massimo Pugliese ,&nbsp;Heinrich Maisel ,&nbsp;Expedito Olimi ,&nbsp;Maria Grazia Tommasini ,&nbsp;Carlo Jacomini ,&nbsp;Lorenzo D'Avino","doi":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microarthropods are pivotal components of the soil mesofauna, significantly contributing to the enhancement of soil quality and structural properties. The evaluation of microarthropod diversity provides valuable information on soil health, owing to their contribution to specific ecosystem services of soil. To monitor mesofauna diversity, the definition and validation of structural ecological indices capable of comprehensively assessing microarthropod community diversity and functionality is needed. In this work, several ecological indices (Hill's number, <em>Acari:Collembola</em>, QBS-ar, FEMI, QBS-ab) based on microarthropod biological forms (BFs) were applied to evaluate soil mesofauna biodiversity in 17 agroecosystem sites under either organic or integrated management. In addition, a novel calculation of the QBS-ar, which consider all observed BFs, called QBS-ar_BF, was proposed and compared to the other indices. The frequency and abundance of BFs highly adapted to soil life differ between management systems (integrated &lt; organic) and crop duration (pluriannual &gt; annual). Overall, the indices that best discriminated the different management in cropping systems were those based on the QBS approach (QBS-ar and QBS-ar_BF) . Moreover, the newly developed QBS-ar_BF index highlighted a higher discrimination capacity due to its inclusion of all observed BFs, i.e. all microarthropod community spectrum information. This study confirmed the pivotal role of edaphic mesofauna in highlighting the differences between soil management and crops across Europe, opening perspectives to new monitoring frameworks to detect shifts in community structure and functional traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8099,"journal":{"name":"Applied Soil Ecology","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 106357"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144863387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}