Trade-offs in soil microbial functions and soil health in agroecosystems.

Trade-offs between soil functions hamper maximizing soil multifunctionality in agroecosystems. Taking soil microbial functional trade-offs into consideration in agricultural management is crucial for optimizing the impacts of changes in soil microbial communities on soil health in agroecosystems. Interactions within soil microbial communities influence functional trade-offs. Manipulating soil microbial diversity and interactions through soil health-improving management can alleviate functional trade-offs and improve soil health and agricultural sustainability. Better mechanistic understanding of the interdependencies between soil-induced functions is essential to improve soil health and agricultural sustainability. Soil microbial communities play pivotal roles in maintaining soil health in agroecosystems. However, how the delivery of multiple microbial functions in agroecosystems is maintained remains poorly understood. This may put us at risk of incurring unexpected trade-offs between soil functions. We elucidate how interactions between soil microbes can lead to trade-offs in the functioning of agricultural soils. Interactions within soil microbial communities can result in not only positive but also neutral and negative relationships among soil functions. Altering soil conditions through soil health-improving agricultural management can alleviate these functional trade-offs by promoting the diversity and interrelationships of soil microbes, which can help to achieve more productive and sustainable agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]