Abstract
Life history strategies of soil microbiomes may determine their environmental adaptability and influence soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Here, we investigate trade-offs among microbial high yield (Y), resource acquisition (A), and stress tolerance (S) strategies and their consequences for soil carbon mineralization potential along an aridity gradient spanning 9.6 million square kilometers. Y-A-S strategies show nonlinear threshold responses to aridity, where a surge in S- and A-strategies and a sharp decline in Y-strategy occur once aridity exceeds critical levels. The aridity threshold for the Y-strategy occurs after those of S- and A-strategies, as increasing carbon allocation into stress tolerance and resource acquisition comes at the expense of growth. The Y-strategy negatively impacts, while A- and S-strategies positively impact soil carbon mineralization potential. Importantly, aridification intensifies these impacts. Overall, our findings suggest that variations in microbial Y-A-S strategies significantly influence soil carbon cycling and should be considered in microbial models.
Acknowledgements
We thank Yufan Liang and Zhenglong Lu for their laboratory work.
Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32522067), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF0806900), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2572025JT06 and 2572026DG28).
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Pang, X., Ren, C., He, N. et al. Microbial drought resistance is achieved at the expense of soil carbon loss.
Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76033-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76033-1
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