Agriculture contributes to a decline in local species diversity and to above- and below-ground biotic homogenization. This study combines a continental survey of soil microbial communities in China with a global meta-analysis of sequencing data to demonstrate that land conversion to agriculture results in taxonomic and functional homogenization of soil bacteria, driven by increased geographic ranges of taxa in croplands. Croplands are enriched in certain phyla, while functional genes involved in nitrogen fixation, phosphorus mineralization, and transportation are depleted. The findings highlight the global consequences of land-use change on soil microbial diversity and ecosystem services.

Ziheng Peng, Xun Qian, Yu Liu, Xiaomeng Li, Hang Gao, Yining An, Jiejun Qi, Lan Jiang, Yiran Zhang, Shi Chen, Haibo Pan, Beibei Chen, Chunling Liang, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Gehong Wei, Shuo Jiao