Moisture-driven divergence in mineral-associated soil carbon persistence.

Mineral stabilization of soil organic matter is an important regulator of the global carbon (C) cycle. However, the vulnerability of mineral-stabilized organic matter (OM) to climate change is currently unknown. We examined soil profiles from 34 sites across the conterminous USA to investigate how the abundance and persistence of mineral-associated organic C varied with climate at the continental scale.

Climate Effects on Subsoil Carbon Loss Mediated by Soil Chemistry.

Subsoils store at least 50% of soil organic carbon (SOC) globally, but climate change may accelerate subsoil SOC (SOC) decomposition and amplify SOC-climate feedbacks. The climate sensitivity of SOC decomposition varies across systems, but we lack the mechanistic links needed to predict system-specific SOC vulnerability as a function of measurable properties at larger scales. Here, we show that soil chemical properties exert significant control over SOC decomposition under elevated temperature and moisture in subsoils collected across terrestrial National Ecological Observatory Network sites.

Soil organic carbon pool and chemical composition under different types of land use in wetland: Implication for carbon sequestration in wetlands.

This study was conducted to understand how different wetland vegetation-land use types influenced the storage and stability of soil organic carbon (SOC) in surface soils. We determined the concentration and chemical composition of SOC in both density (including light fraction organic carbon (LFOC) and heavy fraction organic carbon (HFOC)) and particle size fractions (including <2 μm, 2-63 μm, 63-200 μm and 200-2000 μm) in four wetland land use types covered with different vegetation: lake-sedge, reed, willow and poplar wetlands. Results showed that the concentrations and stock of SOC and LFOC in willow and poplar wetlands were significantly higher than those in lake-sedge and reed.

Effects of season and interval of prescribed burns on pyrogenic carbon in ponderosa pine stands in the southern Blue Mountains, Oregon, USA.

In ponderosa pine () forests of the western United States, prescribed burns are used to reduce fuel loads and restore historical fire regimes. The season of and interval between burns can have complex consequences for the ecosystem, including the production of pyrogenic carbon (PyC). PyC plays a crucial role in soil carbon cycling, displaying turnover times that are orders of magnitude longer than unburned organic matter.