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Soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces worldwide

Author

Listed:
  • Yu-Rong Liu

    (Huazhong Agricultural University
    Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Marcel G. A. Heijden

    (Plant-Soil Interactions, Agroscope
    University of Zürich)

  • Judith Riedo

    (University of Zürich)

  • Carlos Sanz-Lazaro

    (University of Alicante
    University of Alicante)

  • David J. Eldridge

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Felipe Bastida

    (CEBAS-CSIC. Department of Soil and Water Conservation. Campus Universitario de Espinardo)

  • Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    Freie Universität Berlin
    Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB))

  • Xin-Quan Zhou

    (Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Hang-Wei Hu

    (The University of Melbourne)

  • Ji-Zheng He

    (The University of Melbourne)

  • José L. Moreno

    (CEBAS-CSIC. Department of Soil and Water Conservation. Campus Universitario de Espinardo)

  • Sebastian Abades

    (Universidad Mayor)

  • Fernando Alfaro

    (Universidad Mayor
    Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB))

  • Adebola R. Bamigboye

    (Obafemi Awolowo University)

  • Miguel Berdugo

    (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

  • José L. Blanco-Pastor

    (INRAE, UR4 (URP3F), Centre Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Poitiers)

  • Asunción los Ríos

    (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

  • Jorge Duran

    (Misión Biológica de Galicia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
    University of Coimbra)

  • Tine Grebenc

    (Slovenian Forestry Institute)

  • Javier G. Illán

    (Washington State University)

  • Thulani P. Makhalanyane

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Marco A. Molina-Montenegro

    (Universidad de Talca
    Universidad Católica del Norte)

  • Tina U. Nahberger

    (Slovenian Forestry Institute)

  • Gabriel F. Peñaloza-Bojacá

    (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)

  • César Plaza

    (Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

  • Ana Rey

    (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
    Misión Biológica de Galicia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

  • Alexandra Rodríguez

    (Misión Biológica de Galicia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
    University of Coimbra)

  • Christina Siebe

    (Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria)

  • Alberto L. Teixido

    (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso)

  • Nuria Casado-Coy

    (University of Alicante)

  • Pankaj Trivedi

    (Colorado State University)

  • Cristian Torres-Díaz

    (Universidad del Bío-Bío, Campus Fernando May)

  • Jay Prakash Verma

    (Banaras Hindu University)

  • Arpan Mukherjee

    (Banaras Hindu University)

  • Xiao-Min Zeng

    (Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Ling Wang

    (Northeast Normal University, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Changchun)

  • Jianyong Wang

    (Northeast Normal University, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Changchun)

  • Eli Zaady

    (Agricultural Research Organization, Institute of Plant Sciences, Gilat Research Center)

  • Xiaobing Zhou

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qiaoyun Huang

    (Huazhong Agricultural University
    Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Wenfeng Tan

    (Huazhong Agricultural University
    State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Health and Green Remediation)

  • Yong-Guan Zhu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Matthias C. Rillig

    (Freie Universität Berlin
    Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB))

  • Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo

    (Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC
    Universidad Pablo de Olavide)

Abstract

Soil contamination is one of the main threats to ecosystem health and sustainability. Yet little is known about the extent to which soil contaminants differ between urban greenspaces and natural ecosystems. Here we show that urban greenspaces and adjacent natural areas (i.e., natural/semi-natural ecosystems) shared similar levels of multiple soil contaminants (metal(loid)s, pesticides, microplastics, and antibiotic resistance genes) across the globe. We reveal that human influence explained many forms of soil contamination worldwide. Socio-economic factors were integral to explaining the occurrence of soil contaminants worldwide. We further show that increased levels of multiple soil contaminants were linked with changes in microbial traits including genes associated with environmental stress resistance, nutrient cycling, and pathogenesis. Taken together, our work demonstrates that human-driven soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces globally, and highlights that soil contaminants have the potential to cause dire consequences for ecosystem sustainability and human wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu-Rong Liu & Marcel G. A. Heijden & Judith Riedo & Carlos Sanz-Lazaro & David J. Eldridge & Felipe Bastida & Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez & Xin-Quan Zhou & Hang-Wei Hu & Ji-Zheng He & José L. Moreno & Seba, 2023. "Soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces worldwide," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37428-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37428-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Satya R. Chakravarty, 2003. "A Generalized Human Development Index," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 99-114, February.
    2. N. Evangeliou & H. Grythe & Z. Klimont & C. Heyes & S. Eckhardt & S. Lopez-Aparicio & A. Stohl, 2020. "Atmospheric transport is a major pathway of microplastics to remote regions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Mostafa M. H. Ellabaan & Christian Munck & Andreas Porse & Lejla Imamovic & Morten O. A. Sommer, 2021. "Forecasting the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes across bacterial genomes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Zhenyan Zhang & Qi Zhang & Tingzhang Wang & Nuohan Xu & Tao Lu & Wenjie Hong & Josep Penuelas & Michael Gillings & Meixia Wang & Wenwen Gao & Haifeng Qian, 2022. "Assessment of global health risk of antibiotic resistance genes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
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