ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025
Global patterns of nutrient limitation in soil microorganisms.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Afforestation and reforestation support coupled gains in soil life and carbon storage worldwide.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Global long-term agricultural experiments reveal consequences of mineral fertilization for soil microbiomes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Optimizing Ecological Restoration in Alpine Mining Areas Through Fertilization and Seeding-Rate Management: Insights from Vegetation-Soil Stoichiometry.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Global patterns and drivers of soil microbial nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Hump-Shaped Relationship Between Microbial Carbon Use-Efficiency and Soil Organic Carbon in Alpine Grasslands.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Long-Term Elevated COAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils.Science advances · 2026Article
- Nutrient dynamics of decomposing litter and their effects on subsequent mass loss and nutrient release in a subtropical forest.BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Nitrogen fertilization and rhizosphere processes regulate methane uptake in a nitrogen-limited forest.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Manure substitution counteracts mineral nitrogen-driven erosion of theISME communications · 2026Article
- Soil microbial biomass in tropical coastal shelterbelts of Hainan Island: seasonal characteristics and responses to environmental factors.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Identification of Candidate Genes for Low Phosphorus Tolerance in Maize Seedling Stage Based on GWAS and Transcriptome.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Global patterns of nutrient limitation in soil microorganisms.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) is essential for soil microbial activity and growth, yet global patterns of N and P limitation in soil microbial metabolism remain largely unknown. We modeled ecoenzyme stoichiometry data from 5,259 field observations of natural ecosystems to assess microbial N and P limitation in global surface soils. We found that microbial P limitation, which was especially strong at low latitudes, was more prevalent globally than microbial N limitation, which prevailed in cold environments. We also found widespread N and P colimitation in soil microorganisms in the tropics, contradicting the long-held paradigm that P, and not N, is the primary limiting nutrient at low latitudes. This colimitation could be attributable to elevated microbial N demand for the synthesis of P-acquiring enzymes under P limitation. Upscaling (0.1 × 0.1° spatial resolution) suggested that soil microorganisms were limited by N and P in 39% and 57%, respectively, of natural terrestrial surface areas, with 21% of areas with N and P colimitation. As a global assessment of spatial variation in microbial N and P limitation, our results highlight the importance of N availability in supporting microbial P acquisition at low latitudes and improve our understanding of microbial nutrient limitation on a global scale.
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