Soil microbiome and ecosystem multifunctionality

This dataset includes information on land-use categories, physicochemical properties, climatic conditions, biological variables and proxies of ecosystem multifunctionality for 484 locations sampled in LUCAS 2018 Soil Survey
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Functions Data
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
No
Country: 
Aland Islands
Year: 
2026

Title:The soil microbiome as an indicator of ecosystem multifunctionality in European soils

Description: These data were used to investigate the relationship between the soil microbiome and ecosystem multifunctionality across contrasting land-use types and pedoclimatic conditions¹. The dataset includes information on land-use categories, physicochemical properties, and climatic conditions for 484 locations where soil samples were collected as part of the LUCAS 2018 Soil Survey2,3. It also integrates several biological variables derived from bacterial 16S and fungal ITS amplicon sequencing data4 (i.e., the relative abundances of major bacterial and fungal taxa), as well as six functional proxies used to assess ecosystem multifunctionality: soil basal respiration; xylosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and phosphatase activities; soil aggregation; and primary productivity.

A description of each variable is available in the first sheet of the CSV file. More details on the analyses can be found in Romero et al, 20261 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67353-9

Bacterial and fungal amplicon sequencing data (raw DNA sequences) can be accessed through: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/soil-biodiversity-dna-bacteria-and-fungi

Spatial coverage: European Union (EU)
Type: Metadata (CSV - Excel) 
Temporal coverage:  2018

References:

1. Romero, F., Labouyrie, M., Orgiazzi, A. et al. The soil microbiome as an indicator of ecosystem multifunctionality in European soils. Nat Commun 17, 705 (2026).

2. Orgiazzi, A., Ballabio, C., Panagos, P., Jones, A. & Fernández‐Ugalde, O. LUCAS Soil, the largest expandable soil dataset for Europe: a review. European Journal of Soil Science 69, 140-153 (2018).

3. Orgiazzi, A. et al. LUCAS Soil Biodiversity and LUCAS Soil Pesticides, new tools for research and policy development. European Journal of Soil Science 73, e13299 (2022).

4. Labouyrie, M., Ballabio, C., Romero, F. et al. Patterns in soil microbial diversity across Europe. Nat Commun 14, 3311 (2023).

 

Download the Dataset (Excel - CSV) including the README file for the interpretation

For any problem / question / comment on this dataset, please contact ec-esdac@ec.europa.eu

Notification:

  • The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Ispra in collaboration with Agroscope and University of Zurich.
  • The data are the result of JRC research activities and are primarily made available for further research. The JRC does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omission in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The JRC agrees to provide the data free of charge but is not bound to justify the content and values contained in the databases.
  • The permission to use the data specified above is granted on condition that, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are these data passed to third parties. They can be used for any purpose, including commercial gain.
  • The user agrees to:
       a) Make proper reference to the source of the data when disseminating the results to which this agreement relates;
       b) Participate in the verification of the data (e.g. by noting and reporting any errors or omissions discovered to the JRC).

 

Reference of source (Citations) :

Romero, F., Labouyrie, M., Orgiazzi, A. et al. The soil microbiome as an indicator of ecosystem multifunctionality in European soils. Nat Commun 17, 705 (2026).

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre