ArticleNature communications2026
Global patterns and drivers of soil microbial nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Metagenomic Insights into Microbial Functional Potential Associated with Soil Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Cycling Along an Elevational Gradient in a Warm-Temperate Forest.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- From Deficiency to Enrichment: Diverging Soil Phosphorus Trajectories Across China's Croplands (1980-2018).Global change biology · 2026Article
- Manure substitution counteracts mineral nitrogen-driven erosion of theISME communications · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While nutrient use efficiency of soil microorganisms, the proportion of assimilated nutrients allocated into biosynthesis rather than invested in mineralization, is a critical microbial functional trait, its global patterns remain poorly quantified. Here, we estimate microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE, n = 2012) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE, n = 3419) across terrestrial ecosystems using the ecoenzymatic stoichiometric approach. Globally, NUE (mean 0.60) is nearly twice as high as PUE (0.35). Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the strongest predictor of both, with higher SOC associated with greater nutrient use efficiency. Spatial upscaling shows that tundra and boreal forest soils have markedly lower NUE than other regions, suggesting high nitrogen investments in nutrient acquisition in cold ecosystems, whereas PUE is similar across biomes, implying pervasively low phosphorus acquisition capacity. Our study identifies potential nutrient cycling hotspots worldwide and offers critical parameters to refine large-scale predictions of soil carbon and nutrient dynamics.
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