{
  "abstract": "Soil salinization threatens ecosystem health, yet quantitative impacts on bacterial diversity and function remain unclear. Here we integrate a global meta-analysis with a regional field study. Salinization increased soil pH (2.9%) and bulk density (7.2%) while reducing clay content (28%). Beyond a threshold of 2.58 dS/m, bacterial Shannon diversity declined nonlinearly and richness decreased sharply. Communities shifted toward salt-tolerant Bacteroidetes (36.4% increase) and Firmicutes (34.2%), while sensitive Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria declined (95.3% and 18.3%). Random forest modeling identified sodium and magnesium ions as primary drivers. Functional gene analysis revealed nonlinear decreases in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling genes past thresholds, but sulfur cycling genes were stimulated. Co-occurrence networks indicate environmental filtering and reduced complexity under salt stress, yet carbon metabolic functions maintain high connectivity, suggesting functional persistence among salt-adapted taxa. Collectively, salinization restructures bacterial communities via niche-based assembly ion-nutrient-physical interactions, creating microbial critical transition threshold for predicting ecosystem stimulation. Soil salinization restructures bacterial communities via biochemical changes such as elevated iron concentrations, increased pH and bulk density, and reduced clay content, based on global meta-analysis with a high-resolution regional investigation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Grassland Science, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China",
    "Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Grassland Resources and Ecology in the Yellow River Delta, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China",
    "Shandong Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation of Saline- alkaline Tolerant Grasses and Trees, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China",
    "College of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China",
    "School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China",
    "Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 24,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Chao Yang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4160-4065"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qian Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mengmeng Diao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Guofeng Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Liu Hongqing"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yanjun Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lili Cong",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6902-1737"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Yitong Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Jinsheng Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0111-1891"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Wei Tang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shuo Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Qibo Tao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Haixia Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lichao Ma"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Aihua Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Xueli Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Maofeng Chai",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9915-0321"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shangzhi Zhong",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8910-1566"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lanlan Ding"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yufang Xu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Fuhong Miao",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9404-9865"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        0
      ],
      "name": "GERMAN C. SPANGENBERG",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1656-3364"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zeng‐Yu Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6835-7917"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "J Y Sun",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5695-7897"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a0k5sw44m7wpb.bib",
  "cited_by": 27,
  "doi": "10.1038/s43247-026-03688-5",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "a0k5sw44m7wpb",
  "issns": [
    "2662-4435"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03688-5",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7164123227",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-06-10",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a0k5sw44m7wpb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:58Z",
      "native_id": "W7164123227",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03688-5"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2303|Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Global and regional soil salinization drives bacterial diversity loss and biogeochemical imbalance",
  "title_text": "Global and regional soil salinization drives bacterial diversity loss and biogeochemical imbalance",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T13:20:42Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a0k5sw44m7wpb",
  "venue": "Communications Earth & Environment",
  "versions": []
}