Soil microbiomes in urban green spaces: Foundation of ecosystem functions and human health

Soil microbiomes in urban green spaces (UGSs) critically influence the ecological functions, human health and sustainable development of one city. In the recent decade, the frequent concern of microorganisms in UGSs allow us to systematically review the research progress and focus the key questions for this field. We first summarized microbial major taxa and their distribution patterns in UGSs from local, regional and global scales, further identifying the main assembly mechanisms. We propose a three dimensional (3D) interactive framework “resource competition–environmental filtering–anthropogenic stress” that governs assembly of soil microbiomes in UGSs, and drives their homogenization. We then explore the relationship between UGSs soil microbiomes and critical ecosystem processes, including plant growth, carbon-nitrogen cycling and ecosystem stability. We also analyze the potential pathways through which UGSs soil microbiomes influence human health, including indirect impacts through regulating soil environmental quality, as well as direct involvement in human immune regulation. Future directions might be prioritized in monitoring soil microbiome dynamics, analyzing soil microbiome functional networks and constructing microbial-based strategies for synergistic optimization of UGSs ecology and public health.