Prokaryote and fungal soil networks study in a mescocosm experiment

In a 13-year mesocosm experiment, we determined how natural grassland soil and soil abandoned from agricultural practices 60 years before the start of the experiment associated with soil microbial networks. Abandoned arable soil promoted destabilising properties and was associated with soil microbial networks coupled in prokaryote and fungal responses. This coupling was linked with strong associations of prokaryotes, fungi and the plant community with soil chemical composition. Conversely, in stable, natural grassland communities, soil prokaryote and fungal responses were decoupled. This decoupling was associated with a large variety of past plant community pathways associating with, in particular, fungal networks.