Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests

Journal Article · · Communications Earth & Environment
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [3];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [15];  [16]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Zurich (Switzerland)
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  3. National Ecological Observatory Network, Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
  7. Boise State Univ., ID (United States)
  8. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
  9. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  10. Carbon Direct, New York, NY (United States)
  11. New York Univ. (NYU), NY (United States)
  12. USDA Forest Service, Boise, ID (United States). Rocky Mountain Research Station
  13. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
  14. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
  15. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
  16. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Increasing fine root carbon (FRC) inputs into soils has been proposed as a solution to increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). However, FRC inputs can also enhance SOC loss through priming. Here, we tested the broad-scale relationships between SOC and FRC at 43 sites across the US National Ecological Observatory Network. We found that SOC and FRC stocks were positively related with an across-ecosystem slope of 7 ± 3 kg SOC m−2 per kg FRC m−2, but this relationship was driven by grasslands. Grasslands had double the across-ecosystem slope while forest FRC and SOC were unrelated. Furthermore, deep grassland soils primarily showed net SOC accrual relative to FRC input. Conversely, forests had high variability in whether FRC inputs were related to net SOC priming or accrual. We conclude that while FRC increases could lead to increased SOC in grasslands, especially at depth, the FRC-SOC relationship remains difficult to characterize in forests.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
2574500
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--212477
Journal Information:
Communications Earth & Environment, Journal Name: Communications Earth & Environment Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 6; ISSN 2662-4435
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (63)

Modeling the carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: Mycorrhizal trade-offs and multipath resistance uptake improve predictions of retranslocation: Carbon cost of mycorrhizae journal August 2014
Maximum rooting depth of vegetation types at the global scale journal December 1996
A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes journal November 1996
Differential effects of sugar maple, red oak, and hemlock tannins on carbon and nitrogen cycling in temperate forest soils journal January 2008
Spatiotemporal distribution of aridity indices based on temperature and precipitation in the extra-Carpathian regions of Romania journal September 2012
Fine Root and Soil Organic Carbon Depth Distributions are Inversely Related Across Fertility and Rainfall Gradients in Lowland Tropical Forests journal October 2020
SOM genesis: microbial biomass as a significant source journal October 2011
Beyond clay: towards an improved set of variables for predicting soil organic matter content journal February 2018
Mineral stabilization of soil carbon is suppressed by live roots, outweighing influences from litter quality or quantity journal May 2021
Estimating the global root exudate carbon flux journal July 2024
Is soil carbon mostly root carbon? Mechanisms for a specific stabilisation journal February 2005
Deep soil organic matter—a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle journal May 2010
Factors controlling decomposition rates of fine root litter in temperate forests and grasslands journal May 2014
Review of mechanisms and quantification of priming effects journal October 2000
Influence of balsam poplar tannin fractions on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in Alaskan taiga floodplain soils journal October 2001
A disconnect between O horizon and mineral soil carbon – Implications for soil C sequestration journal March 2009
The variations in soil microbial communities, enzyme activities and their relationships with soil organic matter decomposition along the northern slope of Changbai Mountain journal February 2015
Increased coniferous needle inputs accelerate decomposition of soil carbon in an old-growth forest journal October 2009
The root of the matter: Linking root traits and soil organic matter stabilization processes journal May 2018
Microbially Derived Inputs to Soil Organic Matter: Are Current Estimates Too Low? journal December 2007
Vegetation and soil respiration: Correlations and controls journal January 2000
The Fate of Root Carbon in Soil: Data and Model Gaps journal December 2018
Tree Mortality From Insect Infestation Enhances Carbon Stabilization in Southern Appalachian Forest Soils journal July 2018
Leveraging Environmental Research and Observation Networks to Advance Soil Carbon Science journal May 2019
Bridging 20 Years of Soil Organic Matter Frameworks: Empirical Support, Model Representation, and Next Steps journal June 2024
Stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers controlled by fresh carbon supply journal November 2007
Soil carbon release enhanced by increased tropical forest litterfall journal August 2011
Mineral protection of soil carbon counteracted by root exudates journal March 2015
Global ecological predictors of the soil priming effect journal August 2019
Plant roots increase both decomposition and stable organic matter formation in boreal forest soil journal September 2019
Fast-decaying plant litter enhances soil carbon in temperate forests but not through microbial physiological traits journal March 2022
A continental scale analysis reveals widespread root bimodality journal June 2025
Mycorrhizal type regulates trade-offs between plant and soil carbon in forests journal November 2023
The global distribution and environmental drivers of aboveground versus belowground plant biomass journal June 2021
The age distribution of global soil carbon inferred from radiocarbon measurements journal June 2020
Life and death in the soil microbiome: how ecological processes influence biogeochemistry journal February 2022
Tropical forest soil carbon stocks do not increase despite 15 years of doubled litter inputs journal December 2019
The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions journal March 2020
MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi journal May 2016
Links between plant litter chemistry, species diversity, and below-ground ecosystem function journal December 2008
Moisture-driven divergence in mineral-associated soil carbon persistence journal February 2023
A global budget for fine root biomass, surface area, and nutrient contents journal July 1997
Decomposition of tree root litter in a climatic transect of coniferous forests in northern Europe: A synthesis journal January 1998
What do we know about soil carbon destabilization? journal July 2019
Breeding crop plants with deep roots: their role in sustainable carbon, nutrient and water sequestration journal August 2011
Collaborating with NEON journal February 2020
Plant litter chemistry controls coarse‐textured soil carbon dynamics journal October 2022
Quantitative assessment of microbial necromass contribution to soil organic matter journal August 2019
Redefining fine roots improves understanding of below-ground contributions to terrestrial biosphere processes journal March 2015
Rhizosphere priming effects on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics among tree species with and without intraspecific competition journal March 2018
Root effects on soil organic carbon: a double‐edged sword journal December 2020
Plant sizes and shapes above and belowground and their interactions with climate journal March 2022
Vertical root distributions of northern tree species in relation to successional status journal August 1987
The Ecology of Soil Carbon: Pools, Vulnerabilities, and Biotic and Abiotic Controls journal November 2017
The landscape of soil carbon data: Emerging questions, synergies and databases journal May 2019
lmerTest Package: Tests in Linear Mixed Effects Models journal January 2017
Tree Species Effects on Decomposition and Forest Floor Dynamics in a Common Garden journal September 2006
Belowground Litter Contributions to Nitrogen Cycling at a Northern Grassland–Forest Boundary journal October 2005
The Vertical Distribution of soil Organic Carbon and its Relation to Climate and Vegetation journal April 2000
Litter and Root Manipulations Provide Insights into Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Stability journal January 2014
Litter Input Controls on Soil Carbon in a Temperate Deciduous Forest journal January 2014
AIC model selection using Akaike weights journal February 2004
SoDaH: the SOils DAta Harmonization database, an open-source synthesis of soil data from research networks, version 1.0 journal January 2021

Similar Records

Related Subjects

carbon cycle
ecosystem ecology