Long‐term tropospheric ozone pollution disrupts plant‐microbe‐soil interactions in the agroecosystem

Abstract

Tropospheric ozone (O3) threatens agroecosystems, yet its long‐term effects on intricate plant‐microbe‐soil interactions remain overlooked. This study employed two soybean genotypes of contrasting O3‐sensitivity grown in field plots exposed elevated O3 (eO3) and evaluated cause‐effect relationships with their associated soil microbiomes and soil quality. Results revealed long‐term eO3 effects on belowground soil microbiomes and soil health surpass damage visible on plants. Elevated O3 significantly disrupted belowground bacteria‐fungi interactions, reduced fungal diversity, and altered fungal community assembly by impacting soybean physiological properties. Particularly, eO3 impacts on plant performance were significantly associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, undermining their contribution to plants, whereas eO3 increased fungal saprotroph proliferation, accelerating soil organic matter decomposition and soil carbon pool depletion. Free‐living diazotrophs exhibited remarkable acclimation under eO3, improving plant performance by enhancing nitrogen fixation. However, overarching detrimental consequences of eO3 negated this benefit. Overall, this study demonstrated long‐term eO3 profoundly governed negative impacts on plant‐soil‐microbiota interactions, pointing to a potential crisis for agroecosystems. These findings highlight urgent needs to develop adaptive strategies to navigate future eO3 scenarios.