Soil microbes: below-ground defenders against desertification

Ademir S F Araujo; Arthur P A Pereira; Erika V de Medeiros; Lucas W Mendes

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.014

Soil microbes: below-ground defenders against desertification

Trends Ecol Evol. 2025 Dec;40(12):1167-1170. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.014. Epub 2025 Oct 2.

Authors

Ademir S F Araujo¹, Arthur P A Pereira², Erika V de Medeiros³, Lucas W Mendes⁴

Affiliations

¹ Soil Microbial Ecology Group, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI), Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. Electronic address: ademir@ufpi.edu.br.
² Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
³ Semi-Arid (Bio)Technologies Group, Federal University of the Agreste of Pernambuco, Garanhuns, Pernambuco, Brazil.
⁴ Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.

PMID: 41044018
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.014

Abstract

Soil microbes act as below-ground defenders against desertification by several mechanisms, such as rhizosheath formation, necromass accumulation, biological soil crusts, exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, hyphal networks, and calcium carbonate precipitation. Here, we discuss how soil microbes drive ecosystem recovery in drylands, offering promising, nature-based strategies for restoring soils in the face of desertification.

Keywords: arid and semiarid soils; microbial ecology; soil microbiome; soil restoration.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Conservation of Natural Resources*
Desert Climate*
Ecosystem*
Soil / chemistry
Soil Microbiology*

Substances

Soil