Depth dependence of climatic controls on soil microbial community activity and composition

Abstract Subsoil microbiomes play important roles in soil carbon and nutrient cycling, yet our understanding of the controls on subsoil microbial communities is limited. Here, we investigated direct (mean annual temperature precipitation) indirect (soil chemistry) effects climate microbiome composition extracellular enzyme activity throughout profile across two elevation-bioclimatic gradients central California, USA. We found that changes decreases with depth. Across these sites, influence was relatively lower at Furthermore, certain taxa change relative abundance over large precipitation only specific horizons, highlighting depth dependence climatic composition. Our finding impacts are muted suggests deep may lag their acclimation to new temperatures a changing climate.