Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Nature

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10386· OSTI ID:1051632

Schmidt, M W; Torn, M S; Abiven, S; Dittmar, T; Guggenberger, G; Janssens, I A; Kleber, M; Kögel-Knabner, I; Lehmann, J; Manning, D A.C.; Nannipieri, P; Rasse, D P; Weiner, S; Trumbore, S E

Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily—and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: Earth Sciences Division
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1051632
• Report Number(s): LBNL-5135E
• Journal Information: Nature, Journal Name: Nature Journal Issue: 7367 Vol. 478; ISSN 0028-0836
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES