Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming
Abstract
Subsoils contain more than half of soil organic carbon (SOC) and are expected to experience rapid warming in the coming decades. Yet our understanding of the stability of this vast carbon pool under global warming is uncertain. In particular, the fate of complex molecular structures (polymers) remains debated. Here we show that 4.5 years of whole-soil warming (+4 °C) resulted in less polymeric SOC (sum of specific polymers contributing to SOC) in the warmed subsoil (20–90 cm) relative to control, with no detectable change in topsoil. Warming stimulated the subsoil loss of lignin phenols (–17 ± 0%) derived from woody plant biomass, hydrolysable lipids cutin and suberin, derived from leaf and woody plant biomass (–28 ± 3%), and pyrogenic carbon (–37 ± 8%) produced during incomplete combustion. Given that these compounds have been proposed for long-term carbon sequestration, it is notable that they were rapidly lost in warmed soils. We conclude that complex polymeric carbon in subsoil is vulnerable to decomposition and propose that molecular structure alone may not protect compounds from degradation under future warming.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Zurich (Switzerland)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 2228874
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Geoscience
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 16; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 1752-0894
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; carbon cycle; projection and prediction
Citation Formats
Zosso, Cyrill U., Ofiti, Nicholas O. E., Torn, Margaret S., Wiesenberg, Guido L. B., and Schmidt, Michael W. I. Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming. United States: N. p., 2023.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41561-023-01142-1.
Zosso, Cyrill U., Ofiti, Nicholas O. E., Torn, Margaret S., Wiesenberg, Guido L. B., & Schmidt, Michael W. I. Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01142-1
Zosso, Cyrill U., Ofiti, Nicholas O. E., Torn, Margaret S., Wiesenberg, Guido L. B., and Schmidt, Michael W. I. Thu .
"Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01142-1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2228874.
@article{osti_2228874,
title = {Rapid loss of complex polymers and pyrogenic carbon in subsoils under whole-soil warming},
author = {Zosso, Cyrill U. and Ofiti, Nicholas O. E. and Torn, Margaret S. and Wiesenberg, Guido L. B. and Schmidt, Michael W. I.},
abstractNote = {Subsoils contain more than half of soil organic carbon (SOC) and are expected to experience rapid warming in the coming decades. Yet our understanding of the stability of this vast carbon pool under global warming is uncertain. In particular, the fate of complex molecular structures (polymers) remains debated. Here we show that 4.5 years of whole-soil warming (+4 °C) resulted in less polymeric SOC (sum of specific polymers contributing to SOC) in the warmed subsoil (20–90 cm) relative to control, with no detectable change in topsoil. Warming stimulated the subsoil loss of lignin phenols (–17 ± 0%) derived from woody plant biomass, hydrolysable lipids cutin and suberin, derived from leaf and woody plant biomass (–28 ± 3%), and pyrogenic carbon (–37 ± 8%) produced during incomplete combustion. Given that these compounds have been proposed for long-term carbon sequestration, it is notable that they were rapidly lost in warmed soils. We conclude that complex polymeric carbon in subsoil is vulnerable to decomposition and propose that molecular structure alone may not protect compounds from degradation under future warming.},
doi = {10.1038/s41561-023-01142-1},
journal = {Nature Geoscience},
number = 4,
volume = 16,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2023},
month = {Thu Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2023}
}
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