Soil Microbes

Provides global reference data on soil and environmental microbial diversity based on DNA sequencing from the Earth Microbiome Project.

availability

On Demand

Now

indicator tier

Silver

unit

Index or relative abundance (unitless), typically expressed as diversity metrics (e.g., Shannon index, operational taxonomic units per sample)

spatial resolution

measurement frequency

measurement level

historic data availability

Forescast data availability

applicable crop types

applicable land type

No items found.

compliance frameworks

description

Represents global patterns of microbial community composition and diversity across thousands of soil, sediment, and water samples. By mapping microbial taxa and functional genes, the dataset offers insight into how bacterial and archaeal communities vary by biome, land use, and environmental conditions. It serves as a foundational reference for understanding soil health, ecosystem functioning, and biogeochemical cycling.

methodology

The Earth Microbiome Project aggregates standardized 16S rRNA gene sequencing data from over 27,000 environmental samples worldwide. Samples are processed through a consistent bioinformatics pipeline to classify microbial taxa and compute community metrics such as richness, evenness, and beta-diversity. Spatial interpolation and biome-level aggregation enable visualization of microbial diversity gradients across ecosystems.

validation