Microbial physiological trait shifts link heavy metal remediation to enhanced soil carbon storage potential.

Heavy-metal stress increases microbial respiration and CO₂ emissions, but remediation shifts microbial traits to enhance soil carbon storage potential.

• Why it matters: Understanding how heavy-metal pollution and remediation influence soil carbon cycling is crucial for developing sustainable soil management strategies and mitigating climate change.
• What they did: The study tracked microbial metabolism, community changes, and physiological responses over 120 days in contaminated soils, analyzing microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) and CO₂ emissions through metagenomics and Raman spectroscopy.
• The result: Remediation reduced soil CO₂ emissions and increased microbial growth rate and CUE, with microbial physiological traits exerting stronger effects on CUE than community traits, suggesting pathways to enhance soil carbon sequestration.