Van der Heijden Lab
Are pesticides a threat to the soil microbiome?
Are pesticides a threat to the soil microbiome?
Introduction:
Pesticides are widely used in modern agriculture to protect crops against pests, weeds, and diseases, but they can also have non-target effects on the environment. When entering the soil, pesticides can pose a threat to soil organisms. Soils are extremely diverse ecosystems, harboring around 60% of global biodiversity. The soil microbiome, in particular, provides many important ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to better understand the impacts of pesticides on soil microorganisms.
Aim:
In this project we aim to improve our understanding of pesticide effects on the soil microbiome by at the same time extending the scope of current pesticide screening studies and deepening the mechanistic understanding of pesticide effects.
Previous pesticide screening studies were conducted on a regional or continental scale. Here, we conduct a global scale study, assessing soil pesticide contamination across various climatic regions and five major crops. Additionally, we study the effects of pesticide contamination on microbial diversity, composition, and functional potential, allowing us to draw general conclusions independent of specific regions or cropping systems.
To improve our mechanistic understanding of pesticide-microbe interactions under realistic conditions, we evaluate the impact of common pesticide spray plans on various soils in an extensive outdoor experiment. The microbial response to pesticide application is studied in detail using various assays, including metagenomics and viromics. In an additional study, microbial isolates are taken from soils with varying pesticide use histories to assess in living organisms how microbes adapt to pesticides due to realistic field applications.
Expected Importance:
The insights from this project will broaden and deepen our current understanding about pesticide impacts on soil microbial communities and their functions. This knowledge is relevant not only to researchers but can also inform landowners and policymakers about the potential risk associated to pesticide use and serve as an incentive to support agricultural practices that reduce such risks.
Funding
From 2025 – 2029 this project will be funded over the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Project team
Dr. Elias Barmettler, University of Zurich and Agroscope
Selim Walliser, University of Zurich and Agroscope
Daniel Müller, University of Zurich and Agroscope
Mpumi Dammie, University of Zurich and Agroscope
Prof. Marcel van der Heijden, University of Zurich and Agroscope
Contact
Elias Barmettler
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstrasse 190
8057 Zürich
elias.barmettler@uzh.ch
This article was written by Elias Barmettler 21.05.2026
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