The biogeography of soil microbiome potential growth rates

      The Paper of the Day investigates the biogeography of soil microbiome potential growth rates across a national-scale survey in China. The key findings Microbiomes in resource-rich (high organic matter and nutrients) and acid-neutral soils from cold and humid regions exhibit high potential growth rates, while microbiomes in resource-poor, dry, hot, and hypersaline soils display lower potential growth rates. This suggests trade-offs between growth and resource acquisition or stress tolerance. The potential growth rates of soil microbiomes positively correlate with genome size and the number of ribosomal RNA operons, but negatively correlate with optimum temperature and biomass carbon-to-phosphorus and nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios. The spatial variation of microbial potential growth rates aligns with macroecological theories like the latitudinal/temperature compensation hypothesis, the trade-off between growth and stress survival, and the growth rate hypothesis.