An international team of scientists from China, the US, the UK, Estonia and other countries predicts a decline in the number of plant-beneficial microbes due to climate change worldwide. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Nature Food (NatFood).
Valuable soil bacteria make important contributions to the development of crops and other ecosystems, but global warming threatens microbial communities.
Using existing data from the World Microbiome Project, scientists identified microbes that help plants resist pathogens, promote their growth, and increase their resistance to various stresses.
Scientists have found that changes in climate and other local environmental conditions remain strong determinants of microbial community composition and likely strongly influence the distribution of microorganisms.
Under a scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions would triple by 2075, the model predicted that the number of beneficial soil bacteria in 80% of the world’s regions would decline by 0.60%, compared to just 0.07% in the most optimistic estimate.
The researchers said they hope to spur agricultural innovation to improve global food security.
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