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Vulnerability of soil food webs to chemical pollution and climate change

Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Soil food webs are critical for maintaining ecosystem functions but are challenged by various stressors including climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. Although complex multitrophic networks can, in theory, buffer environmental stress, the effects of anthropogenic chemicals on soil food webs under climate change remain poorly understood. Here we propose that the effects of chemical pollution on soil communities have been largely underestimated, particularly for climate change-affected ecosystems. We explore the interactive effects of environmental stressors on soil food webs and the importance of integrating chemical pollution impacts into assessing soil food web stability. We also discuss a conceptual framework involving microbiome manipulation, community compensatory dynamics and interaction modulation to mitigate the combined effects of chemical pollution and climate change on soil food webs.

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Fig. 1: Adverse effects of chemical pollution on soil biota and the food web.
Fig. 2: Combined effects of chemical pollution and climate change on soil communities, food webs and ecosystem functions.
Fig. 3: Strategies for regulating soil multifunctionality and ecosystem services.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42425701) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2662025PY010). M.D.-B. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I+D+i project PID2020-115813RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. B.K.S.ʼs work on soil communities is supported by Australian Research Council (DP230101448).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yu-Rong Liu, Shuhai Wen.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

    Yu-Rong Liu, Shuhai Wen, Xiuli Hao & Qiaoyun Huang

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

    Yu-Rong Liu, Shuhai Wen, Wen Zhang, Zhongwen Liu, Xiuli Hao, Yun-Yun Hao, Wenfeng Tan & Qiaoyun Huang

  3. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

    Brajesh K. Singh

  4. Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Seville, Spain

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo

  5. Hubei Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

    Qiaoyun Huang

  6. Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Matthias C. Rillig

  7. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yong-Guan Zhu

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  1. Yu-Rong Liu
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Contributions

Y.-R.L., S.W. and Y.-G.Z. led the conceptualization and writing of the paper. B.K.S., X.H., Y.-Y.H., M.D.-B., W.T., Q.H., M.C.R. and Y.-G.Z. revised the paper. S.W., W.Z. and Z.L. illustrated the figures. All authors reviewed the paper and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yu-Rong Liu or Yong-Guan Zhu.

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Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks Mark Tibbett and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Liu, YR., Wen, S., Singh, B.K. et al. Vulnerability of soil food webs to chemical pollution and climate change. Nat Ecol Evol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02736-1

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