Global nitrogen enrichment impacts plant diversity more than soil bacterial and fungal diversity: a meta-analysis

Nature Communications 2026 Open access

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Authors: Yu Song, Weibo Kong, Xiaorong Wei, Peter B. Reich, Liping Qiu, Josep Peñuelas, Leho Tedersoo, Mohammad Bahram, James M. Bullock, R. Bobbink, W. de Vries, Xiaoxu Jia
+10 more X. Wang, Xiaomei Gou, W. Li, Yaxian Hu, Tongchuan Li, Zhikun Chen, Zekun Zhong, Jintao Jiao, Mingan Shao, Gehong Wei
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67815-0
Cited by: 9
References: 91

Abstract

Anthropogenic nitrogen enrichment has significant effects on plant and soil biodiversity across local to global scales, yet how the nitrogen-induced changes in plant diversity differ from those in soil organisms across multiple ecosystems and climatic conditions remains virtually unknown. By synthesizing plant and soil studies globally (3,816 paired observations from 458 articles), we demonstrate that nitrogen enrichment has stronger negative effects on plant diversity but surprisingly modest to negligible effects on soil bacterial and fungal diversity. On average, nitrogen enrichment results in 8.3% and 10.3% reductions in species richness and Shannon index for plants. In contrast, it leads to 1.9% and 0.2% reductions for soil bacteria and

Fields of Study & Subjects

Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology

Publication details

Journal / source
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
17
Issue
1
Pages
1057–1057
Publication date
10 January 2026
Language
EN