MICRO-SENTINEL: Microbiomes to strengthen early monitoring of ecosystem health The overarching objective of Micro-sentinel is to determine whether microbiomes can be used as early sentinel of biodiversity decline and/or recovery. By integrating community and functional microbiome profiles with ecological assessments, we aim to establish microbiomes as sensitive and scalable indicators of ecosystem health across diverse habitats. There is currently no consistent link between biodiversity assessments and microbiome functionality in policy or monitoring frameworks. MICRO-SENTINEL addresses this gap by delivering high-resolution, multi-ecosystem microbiome data to inform early warning systems and guide evidence-based conservation. We will sample areas undergoing stress or restoration, characterizing environmental and species-associated microbiomes in terms of both community composition and function. By analyzing microbiome responses along degradation and restoration gradients, we will investigate whether sequence-based, micro-scale signals can anticipate macro-scale ecological change. This will support the development of new indicators and improve our understanding of causal ecological processes, enabling more effective and timely management decisions.