ReviewiScience2022
A quantitative analysis of microbial community structure-function relationships in plant litter decay.
Review in iScience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impact of phosphorus supply and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on rhizosphere fungal communities and growth ofFrontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Linking bacterial life-history strategies and diversity to litter decomposition dynamics in a dry-hot valley area.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Wetland-to-Meadow Transition Alters Soil Microbial Networks and Stability in the Sanjiangyuan Region.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- A conserved interdomain microbial network underpins cadaver decomposition despite environmental variables.Nature microbiology · 2024Article
- Effects of coffee pericarp and litter mulsching on soil microbiomes diversity and functions in a tropical coffee plantation, South China.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Assessing the win-win situation of forage production and soil organic carbon through a short-term active restoration strategy in alpine grasslands.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Soil microbes play a central role in ecosystem element cycling. Yet a central question in microbial ecology remains unanswered: to what extent does the taxonomic composition of soil microbial communities mediate biogeochemical process rates? In this quantitative review, we explore the mechanisms that lead to variation in the strength of microbial community structure-function relationships over space and time. To evaluate these mechanisms, we conduct a meta-analysis of studies that have monitored the decomposition of sterilized plant litter inoculated with different microbial assemblages. We find that the influence of microbial community composition on litter decay is pervasive and strong, rivalling in magnitude the influence of litter chemistry on decomposition. However, no single environmental or experimental attribute was correlated with variation in the inoculum effect. These results emphasize the need to better understand ecological dynamics within microbial communities, particularly emergent features such as cross-feeding networks, to improve predictions of soil biogeochemical function.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.