Bibliographic survey of microbial diversity from Chilean soils

This dataset is a recopilation of research works published from 1975 to 2023 presenting original studies of soil microbial diversity in Chile. The considered microorganisms are bacteria, archaea, and fungi. The studies selected here focused on the diverse environmental biomes represented in Chile, from arid desert and salt flats in the North, to cultivated lands and forests in the medium South, and steppes and glaciers in the extreme South down to the Antarctic peninsula. The dataset includes different methodological approaches such as cultivation, sequencing, metabarcoding, metagenomics, as well as functional characterization of microbial communities. The main objectives of this work are (i) to describe quantitatively and qualitatively the existing research effort for microbial diversity understanding in Chilean soils (i.e., number of studies, type of methodological approaches, and origin of funding), (ii) to compare the extent of research in the different Chilean regions (including the Antarctic Peninsula) and along time since 1975, and (iii) to identify the main research scopes and current knowledge gaps in soil biodiversity in Chile and Antarctic Peninsula. The studies included in this dataset adressed different main concerns, as follows: potential biotechnological applications of soil microorganisms; impact of climate change on soil microorganisms; microbial diversity of extreme environments; identification of new species; effect of disturbances on soil microorganisms; insights in the functionnal capacities of microbial diversity; biogeographic distribution of soil microorganisms.