Two main challenges with connecting microbial communities to ecosystem function are that environmental conditions and interactions between species can alter microbial function in communities. Therefore, I argue for the importance of studying microbial contributions to ecosystem function in a community context across realistic environmental variation. I describe how I am linking microbial communities to ecosystem function by measuring soil microbial traits via metagenomic analysis and functional assays in a large-scale rainfall and soil carbon manipulation experiment in soybean fields. Through these methods, I will assess how microbial communities alter soil carbon storage and crop growth.
