Nature Communications · 13 October 2026 · From issue 51
Soil proteogenomics uncover microbial strategies for soil depth-specific carbon cycling under whole-soil warming conditions
Soil depth, not warming, mainly decided which food sources soil microbes used to break down carbon.
Ulas Karaoz, Ricardo J. E. Alves et al.
Soil holds more carbon than the air and all plants combined. Scientists still do not fully know how tiny soil microbes break that carbon down, especially deep underground. A seven and a half year experiment warmed soil by 4 degrees Celsius, from the surface down to 90 centimeters. It tracked which microbe skills showed up at each depth. Surface microbes mostly ate a simple gas called methanol. Deep microbes relied on fermentation, carbon monoxide, and capturing nitrogen from the air. Warming changed these patterns, but the changes were smaller over time and different at each depth.
The size and depth of the soil warming experiment that revealed these microbial changes.
One long-term soil warming experiment, not yet tied to real-world climate outcomes.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 14 October 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Communications). Read the source
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