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Urbanization homogenized soil viral communities across three climate zones
Hu Liao1, Xin Sun2, Chen-Song Duan1
1State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Journal of Hazardous Materials
|September 26, 2025
Summary
Land use significantly impacts soil viruses. Urban green spaces like parks and residential areas reduce viral diversity and lead to community homogenization, unlike forests and farmlands.
Area of Science:
- Environmental microbiology
- Virology
- Ecology
Background:
- Soil viruses are crucial for microbial community structure and microorganism evolution.
- Limited understanding exists on how land use and climate affect soil viral communities globally.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of land use on soil viral communities across diverse climatic zones in China.
- To assess how urbanization affects soil viral diversity and composition.
Main Methods:
- Deep metagenomic sequencing of soil samples from forests, farmland, residential areas, and parks across 13 cities.
- Analysis of over 2.1x10^5 viral Operational Taxonomic Units (vOTUs) using kmer-based methods.
- Integration of local and global soil virome data to enhance understanding.
Main Results:
- Urban green spaces (parks, residential areas) showed lower viral heterogeneity compared to forests and farmland.
- Viral species diversity decreased by 19.4% in parks and 33.5% in residential areas versus forests.
- Urban vOTUs exhibited higher social niche breadth, indicating a shift towards generalist viruses and community homogenization.
Conclusions:
- Land use, particularly urbanization, significantly alters soil viral community structure and diversity.
- Urban green spaces promote viral community homogenization across different climate zones.
- Findings provide a comprehensive national-scale understanding of land use impacts on soil viromes.
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