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First atlas of soil microbial biodiversity in Mexico: a biogeographical approach

Martínez-Ugalde, Emanuel1; Carrasco‑Espinosa, Karen1; Avitia, Morena1; Águila, Bernardo1; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago1; Garibay-Orijel, Roberto1; Escalante, Ana1

Published Sep 17, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrvz

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Abstract

Mexico is recognized for its great biological diversity, supported by a wide variety of ecosystems. Nonetheless, to date, there is no comprehensive study about the magnitude of microbial diversity and its biogeographical patterns across Mexican ecosystems. Here, we present a meta-analysis describing the diversity and biogeographical patterns of soil microbial communities across Mexico. We gathered 16S rRNA sequencing data from > 700 soil samples collected across Mexico. We analyzed whether soil microbial communities differ between ecoregions and vegetation types. In addition, we evaluated the influence of edaphic and climatic factors on the diversity patterns of soil microbial communities. Our results showed that soil bacterial communities across Mexico exhibit biogeographical patterns across ecoregions and vegetation types. Specifically, diversity patterns in arid regions significantly differ from those in temperate and tropical ecoregions. Through redundancy and correlation analysis, we found that pH, carbon and nitrogen levels, temperature, and precipitation are the main drivers of the bacterial diversity patterns across ecoregions and vegetation types. This work contributes to a better understanding of the biogeographical patterns of soil microorganisms across Mexico, highlighting the influence of environmental variation in driving such diversity patterns.