TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbial scents
T2 - Soil microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (mVOCs) as biomarkers for grasslands across a land use gradient
AU - Boone, Rosa W.C.
AU - Meurs, Joris
AU - Rinnan, Riikka
AU - de Caluwe, Hannie
AU - Wakely, Anouk A.
AU - Takke, Jan Willem C.
AU - Cristescu, Simona M.
AU - van der Putten, Wim H.
AU - de Kroon, Hans
AU - Robroek, Bjorn J.M.
N1 - Data archiving: no NIOO data
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - Extensifying land use practices – i.e. decreasing management intensity – is pivotal to facilitate the transition towards sustainable agriculture in productive grasslands, as it promotes the enhancement of soil biotic communities that support important ecosystem services. To monitor these transitions effectively, improved inventories are needed to track changes in microbial communities. Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (mVOCs) are potential biomarkers that can link soil community change to land use extensification (i.e. reducing land use intensity) and may provide important information on changes in soil processes in transitional productive grasslands. We investigated how land use extensification affects mVOC profiles in grassland soils through both abiotic and biotic factors and whether mVOCs can be linked to bacterial (16S) and fungal (ITS2) community composition. We measured mVOCs (GC-MS), microbial communities, and abiotic soil parameters (SOM, SOC, pH, bulk density, and nutrients) across eighteen grasslands with varying land use intensity. A total of 75 mVOCs were identified using the mVOC 4.0 library. Furthermore, we show that mVOC profiles and chemical classes differ across land use types – conventional, extensive, and semi-natural grasslands. Within these grasslands, only fungi showed distinct community compositions between land use intensity types, whereas there were no compositional differences of bacteria. Using Taxon Indicator Threshold Analysis (TITAN), we identified sixteen mVOC compounds that varied significantly along a land use intensification gradient. These findings suggest that mVOCs can serve as biomarkers linking changes in land use intensity and soil microbial communities, although these relationships are complex in field conditions. We identified a set of mVOCs tied to changes in land-use extensification and highlighted their potential as indicators of soil microbial community turnover. mVOCs offer a valuable tool for monitoring land use transitions, and our results emphasize their role in integrating microbial community metrics and soil health indicators into land management strategies.
AB - Extensifying land use practices – i.e. decreasing management intensity – is pivotal to facilitate the transition towards sustainable agriculture in productive grasslands, as it promotes the enhancement of soil biotic communities that support important ecosystem services. To monitor these transitions effectively, improved inventories are needed to track changes in microbial communities. Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (mVOCs) are potential biomarkers that can link soil community change to land use extensification (i.e. reducing land use intensity) and may provide important information on changes in soil processes in transitional productive grasslands. We investigated how land use extensification affects mVOC profiles in grassland soils through both abiotic and biotic factors and whether mVOCs can be linked to bacterial (16S) and fungal (ITS2) community composition. We measured mVOCs (GC-MS), microbial communities, and abiotic soil parameters (SOM, SOC, pH, bulk density, and nutrients) across eighteen grasslands with varying land use intensity. A total of 75 mVOCs were identified using the mVOC 4.0 library. Furthermore, we show that mVOC profiles and chemical classes differ across land use types – conventional, extensive, and semi-natural grasslands. Within these grasslands, only fungi showed distinct community compositions between land use intensity types, whereas there were no compositional differences of bacteria. Using Taxon Indicator Threshold Analysis (TITAN), we identified sixteen mVOC compounds that varied significantly along a land use intensification gradient. These findings suggest that mVOCs can serve as biomarkers linking changes in land use intensity and soil microbial communities, although these relationships are complex in field conditions. We identified a set of mVOCs tied to changes in land-use extensification and highlighted their potential as indicators of soil microbial community turnover. mVOCs offer a valuable tool for monitoring land use transitions, and our results emphasize their role in integrating microbial community metrics and soil health indicators into land management strategies.
KW - Agricultural extensification
KW - Bacterial and fungal community composition
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Microbial volatile organic compounds
KW - Productive grasslands
U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109749
DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109749
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85219140595
SN - 0038-0717
VL - 204
JO - Soil Biology and Biochemistry
JF - Soil Biology and Biochemistry
M1 - 109749
ER -