Soil microbial responses to experimental warming and clipping in a tallgrass prairie

Global surface temperature is predicted to increase by 1.4–5.8°C by the end of this century. However, the impacts of this projected warming on soil C balance and the C budget of terrestrial ecosystems are not clear. One major source of uncertainty stems from warming effects on soil microbes, which exert a dominant influence on the net C balance of terrestrial ecosystems by controlling organic matter decomposition and plant nutrient availability. We, therefore, conducted an experiment in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem at the Great Plain Apiaries (near Norman, OK) to study soil microbial responses to temperature elevation of about 2°C through artificial heating in clipped and unclipped field plots. While warming did not induce significant changes in net N mineralization, soil microbial biomass and respiration rate, it tended to reduce extractable inorganic N during the second and third warming years, likely through increasing plant uptake. In addition, microbial substrate utilization patterns and the profiles of microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) showed that warming caused a shift in the soil microbial community structure in unclipped subplots, leading to the relative dominance of fungi as evidenced by the increased ratio of fungal to bacterial PLFAs. However, no warming effect on soil microbial community structure was found in clipped subplots where a similar scale of temperature increase occurred. Clipping also significantly reduced soil microbial biomass and respiration rate in both warmed and unwarmed plots. These results indicated that warming‐led enhancement of plant growth rather than the temperature increase itself may primarily regulate soil microbial response. Our observations show that warming may increase the relative contribution of fungi to the soil microbial community, suggesting that shifts in the microbial community structure may constitute a major mechanism underlying warming acclimatization of soil respiration.     

Carbon losses due to soil warming: Do autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respiration respond equally?

Global warming has the potential to increase soil respiration (R_S), one of the major fluxes in the global carbon (C) cycle. R_S consists of an autotrophic (R_A) and a heterotrophic (R_H) component. We combined a soil warming experiment with a trenching experiment to assess how R_S, R_A, and R_H are affected. The experiment was conducted in a mature forest dominated by Norway spruce. The site is located in the Austrian Alps on dolomitic bedrock. We warmed the soil of undisturbed and trenched plots by means of heating cables 4 °C above ambient during the snow‐free seasons of 2005 and 2006. Soil warming increased the CO₂ efflux from control plots (R_S) by ∼45% during 2005 and ∼47% during 2006. The CO₂ efflux from trenched plots (R_H) increased by ∼39% during 2005 and ∼45% during 2006. Similar responses of R_S and R_H indicated that the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of R_S responded equally to the temperature increase. Thirty‐five to forty percent or 1 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of the overall annual increase in R_S (2.8 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) was autotrophic. The remaining, heterotrophic part of soil respiration (1.8 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), represented the warming‐induced C loss from the soil. The autotrophic component showed a distinct seasonal pattern. Contribution of R_A to R_S was highest during summer. Seasonally derived Q₁₀ values reflected this pattern and were correspondingly high (5.3–9.3). The autotrophic CO₂ efflux increase due to the 4 °C warming implied a Q₁₀ of 2.9. Hence, seasonally derived Q₁₀ of R_A did not solely reflect the seasonal soil temperature development.     

Carbon quality and soil microbial property control the latitudinal pattern in temperature sensitivity of soil microbial respiration across Chinese forest ecosystems

Understanding the temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) of soil organic C (SOC) decomposition is critical to quantifying the climate–carbon cycle feedback and predicting the response of ecosystems to climate change. However, the driving factors of the spatial variation in Q₁₀ at a continental scale are fully unidentified. In this study, we conducted a novel incubation experiment with periodically varying temperature based on the mean annual temperature of the soil origin sites. A total of 140 soil samples were collected from 22 sites along a 3,800 km long north–south transect of forests in China, and the Q₁₀ of soil microbial respiration and corresponding environmental variables were measured. Results showed that changes in the Q₁₀ values were nonlinear with latitude, particularly showing low Q₁₀ values in subtropical forests and high Q₁₀ values in temperate forests. The soil C:N ratio was positively related to the Q₁₀ values, and coniferous forest soils with low SOC quality had higher Q₁₀ values than broadleaved forest soils with high SOC quality, which supported the “C quality temperature” hypothesis. Out of the spatial variations in Q₁₀ across all ecosystems, gram‐negative bacteria exhibited the most importance in regulating the variation in Q₁₀ and contributed 25.1%, followed by the C:N ratio (C quality), fungi, and the fungi:bacteria ratio. However, the dominant factors that regulate the regional variations in Q₁₀ differed among the tropical, subtropical, and temperate forest ecosystems. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of C quality and microbial controls over Q₁₀ value in China's forest ecosystems. Meanwhile, C dynamics in temperate forests under a global warming scenario can be robustly predicted through the incorporation of substrate quality and microbial property into models.     

Reduced carbon use efficiency and increased microbial turnover with soil warming

Global soil carbon (C) stocks are expected to decline with warming, and changes in microbial processes are key to this projection. However, warming responses of critical microbial parameters such as carbon use efficiency (CUE) and biomass turnover (rB) are not well understood. Here, we determine these parameters using a probabilistic inversion approach that integrates a microbial‐enzyme model with 22 years of carbon cycling measurements at Harvard Forest. We find that increasing temperature reduces CUE but increases rB, and that two decades of soil warming increases the temperature sensitivities of CUE and rB. These temperature sensitivities, which are derived from decades‐long field observations, contrast with values obtained from short‐term laboratory experiments. We also show that long‐term soil C flux and pool changes in response to warming are more dependent on the temperature sensitivity of CUE than that of rB. Using the inversion‐derived parameters, we project that chronic soil warming at Harvard Forest over six decades will result in soil C gain of <1.0% on average (1st and 3rd quartiles: 3.0% loss and 10.5% gain) in the surface mineral horizon. Our results demonstrate that estimates of temperature sensitivity of microbial CUE and rB can be obtained and evaluated rigorously by integrating multidecadal datasets. This approach can potentially be applied in broader spatiotemporal scales to improve long‐term projections of soil C feedbacks to climate warming.     

长期模拟升温对崇明东滩湿地土壤微生物生物量的影响

以崇明东滩芦苇湿地为对象,采用开顶室生长箱(Open top chambers OTCs)原位模拟大气升温试验,研究了连续升温8a对崇明东滩湿地0—40cm土层土壤微生物生物量碳氮含量的影响。结果表明:连续升温显著提高了崇明东滩湿地土壤微生物生物量碳氮含量,从土壤表层到深层(0—10,10—20,20—30,30—40cm),微生物生物量碳分别增加了39.32%、70.79%、65.20%、74.09%,微生物生物量氮分别增加了66.46%、178.27%、47.24%、64.11%。但升温对土壤微生物生物量的影响因不同土层和不同季节并未表现出统一的规律,长期模拟升温显著提高4月0—20cm土层和7月0—40cm土层微生物生物量碳氮含量,对10月0—40cm土层微生物生物量碳含量没有影响,但是显著提高了10月0—40cm土层微生物生物量氮含量,同时,微生物生物量碳氮比在7月也显著提高。相关分析表明:无论在升温条件还是在对照条件下,土壤温度、含水量、总氮与土壤微生物生物量碳氮及微生物生物量碳氮比均无相关关系,升温条件下,有机碳与微生物生物量碳氮含量以及微生物生物量碳氮比呈显著正相关,但是在对照条件下有机碳与微生物生物量碳氮含量以及微生物生物量碳氮比呈显著负相关。因此,土壤有机碳是影响土壤微生物生物量碳氮含量对长期模拟升温响应的重要生态因子。     

Investigating the long‐term legacy of drought and warming on the soil microbial community across five European shrubland ecosystems

We investigated how the legacy of warming and summer drought affected microbial communities in five different replicated long‐term (>10 years) field experiments across Europe (EU‐FP7 INCREASE infrastructure). To focus explicitly on legacy effects (i.e., indirect rather than direct effects of the environmental factors), we measured microbial variables under the same moisture and temperature in a brief screening, and following a pre‐incubation at stable conditions. Specifically, we investigated the size and composition of the soil microbial community (PLFA) alongside measurements of bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in ergosterol incorporation) growth rates, previously shown to be highly responsive to changes in environmental factors, and microbial respiration. We found no legacy effects on the microbial community size, composition, growth rates, or basal respiration rates at the effect sizes used in our experimental setup (0.6 °C, about 30% precipitation reduction). Our findings support previous reports from single short‐term ecosystem studies thereby providing a clear evidence base to allow long‐term, broad‐scale generalizations to be made. The implication of our study is that warming and summer drought will not result in legacy effects on the microbial community and their processes within the effect sizes here studied. While legacy effects on microbial processes during perturbation cycles, such as drying–rewetting, and on tolerance to drought and warming remain to be studied, our results suggest that any effects on overall ecosystem processes will be rather limited. Thus, the legacies of warming and drought should not be prioritized factors to consider when modeling contemporary rates of biogeochemical processes in soil.     

Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes

Ecosystems worldwide are receiving increasing amounts of reactive nitrogen (N) via anthropogenic activities with the added N having potentially important impacts on microbially mediated belowground carbon dynamics. However, a comprehensive understanding of how elevated N availability affects soil microbial processes and community dynamics remains incomplete. The mechanisms responsible for the observed responses are poorly resolved and we do not know if soil microbial communities respond in a similar manner across ecosystems. We collected 28 soils from a broad range of ecosystems in North America, amended soils with inorganic N, and incubated the soils under controlled conditions for 1 year. Consistent across nearly all soils, N addition decreased microbial respiration rates, with an average decrease of 11% over the year‐long incubation, and decreased microbial biomass by 35%. High‐throughput pyrosequencing showed that N addition consistently altered bacterial community composition, increasing the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, and decreasing the relative abundance of Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. Further, N‐amended soils consistently had lower activities in a broad suite of extracellular enzymes and had decreased temperature sensitivity, suggesting a shift to the preferential decomposition of more labile C pools. The observed trends held across strong gradients in climate and soil characteristics, indicating that the soil microbial responses to N addition are likely controlled by similar wide‐spread mechanisms. Our results support the hypothesis that N addition depresses soil microbial activity by shifting the metabolic capabilities of soil bacterial communities, yielding communities that are less capable of decomposing more recalcitrant soil carbon pools and leading to a potential increase in soil carbon sequestration rates.     

全球变暖背景下土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性:证据、机理和争议

土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性被认为是决定陆地生态系统对全球变暖反馈作用的潜在重要机制,可能显著改变未来的气候变化趋势,然而学术界对于这一机制是否真实存在尚有分歧。阐述了土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性概念,从证据、机理和争议3方面对已有研究进展进行了综述和分析。土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性是微生物在群落尺度上对温度变化的适应性,具有坚实的生物学与生态学理论基础,研究者们运用各类指标已在许多实验中证实土壤微生物物种及群落的呼吸过程能够在高温环境产生适应性变化。土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性机理涉及生物膜结构变化、酶活性变化、微生物碳分配比例变化和微生物群落结构变化等方面。关于土壤微生物呼吸热适应性的争议可能是由研究方法、微生物物种及环境条件的差异引起的。根据对已有研究的分析,认为土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性是真实存在的,未来的研究可进一步探索土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性机理,深入研究环境和全球变化对土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性影响,定量评估土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性对陆地生态系统反馈过程的影响。     

Differential effects of warming and nitrogen fertilization on soil respiration and microbial dynamics in switchgrass croplands

The mechanistic understanding of warming and nitrogen (N) fertilization, alone or in combination, on microbially mediated decomposition is limited. In this study, soil samples were collected from previously harvested switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) plots that had been treated with high N fertilizer (HN: 67 kg N ha^?1) and those that had received no N fertilizer (NN) over a 3‐year period. The samples were incubated for 180 days at 15 °C and 20 °C, during which heterotrophic respiration, δ¹³C of CO₂, microbial biomass (MB), specific soil respiration rate (R_s: respiration per unit of microbial biomass), and exoenzyme activities were quantified at 10 different collections time. Employing switchgrass tissues (referred to as litter) with naturally abundant ¹³C allowed us to partition CO₂ respiration derived from soil and amended litter. Cumulative soil respiration increased significantly by 16.4% and 4.2% under warming and N fertilization, respectively. Respiration derived from soil was elevated significantly with warming, while oxidase, the agent for recalcitrant soil substrate decomposition, was not significantly affected by warming. Warming, however, significantly enhanced MB and R_s indicating a decrease in microbial growth efficiency (MGE). On the contrary, respiration derived from amended litter was elevated with N fertilization, which was consistent with the significantly elevated hydrolase. N fertilization, however, had little effect on MB and R_s, suggesting little change in microbial physiology. Temperature and N fertilization showed minimal interactive effects likely due to little differences in soil N availability between NN and HN samples, which is partly attributable to switchgrass biomass N accumulation (equivalent to ~53% of fertilizer N). Overall, the differential individual effects of warming and N fertilization may be driven by physiological adaptation and stimulated exoenzyme kinetics, respectively. The study shed insights on distinct microbial acquisition of different substrates under global temperature increase and N enrichment.     

增温对亚热带杉木人工林土壤微生物呼吸及熵值的影响

增温通过改变微生物生物量和微生物代谢状况影响土壤微生物呼吸。然而,有关亚热带地区土壤微生物呼吸如何响应长期土壤增温尚不清楚。以增温7年后的杉木人工林为研究对象,比较增温对杉木人工林土壤微生物呼吸和微生物代谢熵的影响。结果表明:(1)增温后,微生物生物量碳在8月份和12月份分别降低了32.1%和59.8%(P<0.05)。(2)增温后土壤基础呼吸与底物诱导呼吸与对照相比均无显著差异;水分添加后,与基础呼吸相比,增温和对照的土壤呼吸在8月显著增加了38.3%和104.8%;葡萄糖添加后,增温和对照的底物诱导呼吸在8月份分别显著增加了113.1%和152.9%,在12月份分别显著增加了118.0%和160.9%(P<0.05)。(3)增温后,微生物代谢熵在12月显著增加了127.7%,8月无显著变化(P<0.05)。(4)在增温和对照处理中,微生物代谢熵与可溶性有机碳和微生物生物量碳含量呈负相关,与土壤含水率正相关(P<0.05)。研究结果表明,土壤增温7年后碳的可利用性和水分的降低是影响杉木人工林土壤微生物呼吸的重要因素。     

高山森林土壤微生物群落结构和功能对模拟增温的响应

将高山森林土壤装入PVC管中(土壤有机层在上、矿质土壤层在下)培养10周,以高山森林土壤年均温为对照,采用室内人工气候箱分别模拟增温2和4 ℃,研究土壤微生物群落和土壤酶活性对温度升高的响应.结果表明: 温度升高显著降低了土壤有机层中细菌、矿质土壤层中革兰氏阴性菌(G^-)PLFAs含量,但对土壤真菌无显著影响.温度升高引起革兰氏阳性菌和阴性菌比值(G⁺/G^-)升高,改变了微生物群落结构.增温对漆酶、β-葡萄糖酶、酸性磷酸酶和N-乙酰葡糖胺糖苷酶活性没有显著影响.土壤微生物群落之间呈现出协同增长的趋势,真菌、细菌、G⁺、G^-等微生物群落之间均呈显著正相关.土壤有机层中β-葡萄糖苷酶与土壤微生物群落对碳源利用的竞争,导致β-葡萄糖苷酶活性与土壤有机层细菌、真菌、G⁺呈显著负相关.高山森林不同土壤微生物类群对增温的响应不同,细菌比真菌对温度的响应更敏感,真菌对增温有一定的耐受能力.     

Climate warming alters the relative importance of plant root and microbial community in regulating the accumulation of soil microbial necromass carbon in a Tibetan alpine meadow

Climate warming is predicted to considerably affect variations in soil organic carbon (SOC), especially in alpine ecosystems. Microbial necromass carbon (MNC) is an important contributor to stable soil organic carbon pools. However, accumulation and persistence of soil MNC across a gradient of warming are still poorly understood. An 8-year field experiment with four levels of warming was conducted in a Tibetan meadow. We found that low-level (+0–1.5°C) warming mostly enhanced bacterial necromass carbon (BNC), fungal necromass carbon (FNC), and total MNC compared with control treatment across soil layers, while no significant effect was caused between high-level (+1.5–2.5°C) treatments and control treatments. The contributions of both MNC and BNC to soil organic carbon were not significantly affected by warming treatments across depths. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the effect of plant root traits on MNC persistence strengthened with warming intensity, while the influence of microbial community characteristics waned along strengthened warming. Overall, our study provides novel evidence that the major determinants of MNC production and stabilization may vary with warming magnitude in alpine meadows. This finding is critical for updating our knowledge on soil carbon storage in response to climate warming.     

Fungal communities differentially respond to warming and drought in tropical grassland soil

Climate change is predicted to cause more extreme events, such as heatwaves, and different precipitation patterns. The effects of warming and short‐term drought on soil microbial communities, in particular fungal communities, remain largely unexplored under field conditions. Here, we evaluated how the fungal community of a tropical grassland soil responds to these changes. A field experiment was carried out in a temperature free‐air controlled enhancement (T‐FACE) facility in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. The isolated and combined effects of drought and a 2°C increase in temperature were investigated. Based on metabarcoding of the ITS2 region, a total of 771 operational taxonomic units were observed. While warming affected the community structure, drought affected the alpha diversity, and the interaction between warming and drought affected both diversity and structure. The change in community composition driven by warming affected only the less abundant species (>1% of the total sequences). The aspect of the fungal communities that was most affected was diversity, which was increased by drought (p < .05), mostly by reducing the dominance of a single species, as observed in the watered plots. In a phylogenetic context, some fungal taxa were favoured by changes in temperature (Hypocreales) and drought (Sordariales) or disadvantaged by both (Pleosporales). It was of note that a water deficit increased the abundance of phytopathogenic fungi, such as Curvularia, Thielavia and Fusarium species. Overall, our results provide evidence that fungal communities in tropical grassland soils have greater sensitivity to drought than to temperature, which might increase the incidence of certain soil‐borne diseases.     

气温上升对草地土壤微生物群落结构的影响

在 2 0世纪内 ,全球气温已经上升了 0 .6℃ ,并预计到本世纪末仍将上升 1.4～ 5 .8℃。全球气候变暖对生态系统的潜在影响 ,生态系统对气温上升的反馈已成为国际生态学界的研究热点 ,而且所研究的系统也已经从过去简化的模拟系统到复杂的真实生态系统。但是 ,现有对真实生态系统的研究大部分集中在地上植物群落和土壤气体交换等领域 ,对在土壤有机碳分解和保护中起决定作用的土壤微生物研究较少。为此 ,在美国大平原地区进行人工提高气温 (上升 1.8℃ ) ,来研究土壤微生物对气温上升的反应。结果表明 :增温对土壤微生物的总生物量没有显著效应 ,但可以提高微生物的 C∶ N比。另外 ,磷脂肪酸分析发现 ,气温上升显著降低土壤微生物量中的细菌比重 ,提高真菌的份额 ,从而显著提高了群落中真菌与细菌的比值。而且 ,通过对土壤微生物底物利用方式和磷脂肪酸特征的主成份分析 ,发现增温导致了土壤微生物群落结构的转变。可见 ,气温上升可能是通过提高土壤微生物中真菌的优势 ,而导致群落结构的变化。该变化将可以提高微生物对土壤有机碳的利用效率 ,并利于土壤有机碳的保护     

Enhanced decomposition of stable soil organic carbon and microbial catabolic potentials by long‐term field warming

Quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition under warming is critical to predict carbon–climate feedbacks. According to the substrate regulating principle, SOC decomposition would decrease as labile SOC declines under field warming, but observations of SOC decomposition under warming do not always support this prediction. This discrepancy could result from varying changes in SOC components and soil microbial communities under warming. This study aimed to determine the decomposition of SOC components with different turnover times after subjected to long‐term field warming and/or root exclusion to limit C input, and to test whether SOC decomposition is driven by substrate lability under warming. Taking advantage of a 12‐year field warming experiment in a prairie, we assessed the decomposition of SOC components by incubating soils from control and warmed plots, with and without root exclusion for 3 years. We assayed SOC decomposition from these incubations by combining inverse modeling and microbial functional genes during decomposition with a metagenomic technique (GeoChip). The decomposition of SOC components with turnover times of years and decades, which contributed to 95% of total cumulative CO₂ respiration, was greater in soils from warmed plots. But the decomposition of labile SOC was similar in warmed plots compared to the control. The diversity of C‐degradation microbial genes generally declined with time during the incubation in all treatments, suggesting shifts of microbial functional groups as substrate composition was changing. Compared to the control, soils from warmed plots showed significant increase in the signal intensities of microbial genes involved in degrading complex organic compounds, implying enhanced potential abilities of microbial catabolism. These are likely responsible for accelerated decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover rates. Overall, the shifted microbial community induced by long‐term warming accelerates the decomposition of SOC components with slow turnover rates and thus amplify the positive feedback to climate change.     

Contrasting mechanisms underlie short‐ and longer‐term soil respiration responses to experimental warming in a dryland ecosystem

Soil carbon losses to the atmosphere through soil respiration are expected to rise with ongoing temperature increases, but available evidence from mesic biomes suggests that such response disappears after a few years of experimental warming. However, there is lack of empirical basis for these temporal dynamics in soil respiration responses, and for the mechanisms underlying them, in drylands, which collectively form the largest biome on Earth and store 32% of the global soil organic carbon pool. We coupled data from a 10 year warming experiment in a biocrust‐dominated dryland ecosystem with laboratory incubations to confront 0–2 years (short‐term hereafter) versus 8–10 years (longer‐term hereafter) soil respiration responses to warming. Our results showed that increased soil respiration rates with short‐term warming observed in areas with high biocrust cover returned to control levels in the longer‐term. Warming‐induced increases in soil temperature were the main drivers of the short‐term soil respiration responses, whereas longer‐term soil respiration responses to warming were primarily driven by thermal acclimation and warming‐induced reductions in biocrust cover. Our results highlight the importance of evaluating short‐ and longer‐term soil respiration responses to warming as a mean to reduce the uncertainty in predicting the soil carbon–climate feedback in drylands.     

高山林线土壤微生物群落结构对模拟增温的响应

研究土壤微生物群落结构对模拟增温的响应,对预测全球气候变化背景下土壤碳氮磷循环具有重要意义.采用开顶式生长室(OTC)模拟增温,研究了土壤有机质层和矿质土壤层真菌(F)、细菌(B)、革兰氏阳性菌(G⁺)和革兰氏阴性菌(G^-)PLFAs微生物量,以及真菌/细菌(F/B)和革兰氏阴性菌/革兰氏阳性菌(G^-/G⁺)比值对模拟增温的响应.结果表明: OTC模拟增温使空气温度增加0.87 ℃,土壤有机质层温度增加0.5 ℃,矿质土壤层温度增加0.23 ℃.土壤有机质层微生物群落组成比矿质土壤层对模拟增温的响应更敏感.细菌比真菌对模拟增温的响应更加敏感,模拟增温显著影响了土壤有机质层的F/B和G^-/G⁺比值,对矿质土壤层的所有PLFAs含量或比值均没有显著影响.微生物的PLFAs含量及真菌/细菌和G^-/G⁺比值总体呈现非生长季低于生长季前期和生长季后期.冗余分析表明,土壤中的碳含量(可溶性有机碳DOC 12.1%、凋落物可溶性碳DC 9.5%和全碳TC 3%)是微生物群落结构的决定性因素,可溶性组分(DOC和DC)对微生物群落结构的影响大于全量养分(全碳和总氮).     

土壤微生物资源管理、应用技术与学科展望

土壤中蕴藏着高度的微生物多样性,在陆地生态系统中发挥着非常重要的功能,加强对土壤微生物资源的综合管理与开发应用是提升生态系统稳定性与生产力及农产品质量的重要途径。首先,土壤微生物多样性具有全球性的重大意义,有待完善对土壤微生物的检测与监测技术研究,进而实现土壤微生物多样性与土壤功能的耦合以及对土壤质量的评定;其次,土壤微生物作为一种宝贵的生产资料和可持续资源,要加强其在土壤肥力强化与保育、土壤障碍消减与调节、土壤污染控制与修复等3个领域的应用研究。最后,未来土壤微生物学发展将会形成土壤微生物系统学、土壤微生物过程学与土壤微生物功能学3个子学科,要建立土壤微生物种质资源库与遗传信息库,推进土壤微生物生理代谢过程、生物化学过程及生态行为过程的研究,联结土壤微生物与土壤功能的关系,并从土壤中的功能微生物出发对环境变化作出积极响应和主动调控。此外,原创性方法的建立与应用是限制土壤微生物学发展的技术瓶颈,联合生物地理学与生物信息学破译重要基因的特定生态功能,并将其应用到生态模型以及生态系统未知领域的研究中去,是土壤微生物学面临的挑战。