Rock weathering controls the potential for soil carbon storage at a continental scale

Slessarev, Eric; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Nuccio, Erin; Pett‐Ridge, Jennifer

doi:10.1007/s10533-021-00859-8

Cited by 42 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Assuming some oxic areas in the soil are maintained, higher soil moisture can promote greater microbial growth and CUE (Domeignoz‐Horta et al., 2020), due to greater substrate diffusivity and accessibility and elevated water potentials (Manzoni et al., 2012), which should also increase OM feedstock. Over longer time‐scales, increased precipitation can also lead to faster weathering of primary minerals and increased abundance of reactive secondary minerals that can enhance the potential size of the MAOM pool (Slessarev et al., 2022).…”

Section: Climate Change Effects On Feedstock and Maom Formation Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global distribution, formation and fate of mineral‐associated soil organic matter under a changing climate: A trait‐based perspective

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil organic matter (SOM) is the largest actively cycling reservoir of terrestrial carbon (C), and the majority of SOM in Earth's mineral soils (~65%) is mineral‐associated organic matter (MAOM). Thus, the formation and fate of MAOM can exert substantial influence on the global C cycle. To predict future changes to Earth's climate, it is critical to mechanistically understand the processes by which MAOM is formed and decomposed, and to accurately represent this process‐based understanding in biogeochemical and Earth system models. In this review, we use a trait‐based framework to synthesize the interacting roles of plants, soil micro‐organisms, and the mineral matrix in regulating MAOM formation and decomposition. Our proposed framework differentiates between plant and microbial traits that influence total OM inputs to the soil (‘feedstock traits’) versus traits that influence the proportion of OM inputs that are ultimately incorporated into MAOM (‘MAOM formation traits’). We discuss how these feedstock and MAOM formation traits may be altered by warming, altered precipitation and elevated carbon dioxide. At a planetary scale, these feedstock and MAOM formation traits help shape the distribution of MAOM across Earth's biomes, and modulate biome‐specific responses of MAOM to climate change. We leverage a global synthesis of MAOM measurements to provide estimates of the total amount of MAOM‐C globally (~840–1540 Pg C; 34%–51% of total terrestrial organic C), and its distribution across Earth's biomes. We show that MAOM‐C concentration is highest in temperate forests and grasslands, and lowest in shrublands and savannas. Grasslands and croplands have the highest proportion of soil organic carbon (SOC) in the MAOM fraction (i.e. the MAOM‐C:SOC ratio), while boreal forests and tundra have the lowest MAOM‐C:SOC ratio. Drawing on our trait framework, we then review experimental data and posit the effects of climate change on MAOM pools in different biomes. We conclude by discussing how MAOM is integrated into soil C models, and how feedstock and MAOM formation traits may be included in these models. We also summarize the projected fate of MAOM under climate change scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5) and discuss key model uncertainties. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

show abstract

Section: Climate Change Effects On Feedstock and Maom Formation Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global distribution, formation and fate of mineral‐associated soil organic matter under a changing climate: A trait‐based perspective

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Together, these results explain the higher C storage of the managed soils and clearly show that millennia of pastoralism led to a higher persistence of SOC. Weathering products most likely drive higher SOC persistence in managed soils 15 . But, as to be expected at the elevation and climate of our study area 9 , weathering and particularly soil development were slow.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land-use induced soil carbon stabilization at the expense of rock derived nutrients: insights from pristine Andean soils

Jungkunst

Heitkamp

Doetterl

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soils contain significantly more carbon than the atmosphere, hence we should understand how best to stabilize it. Unfortunately, the role of human interventions on soil organic carbon (SOC) persistence in the Anthropocene remains vague, lacking adequate sites that allow unbiased direct comparisons of pristine and human influenced soils. Here we present data from a unique study system in the High Andes that guarantees pristineness of the reference sites by physical inaccessibility through vertical cliffs. By comparing the isotopic signatures of SOC, mineral related carbon stabilization, and soil nutrient status across grazed versus pristine soils, we provide counterintuitive evidence that thousands of years of pastoralism increased soil C persistence. Mineral associated organic carbon (MAOC) was significantly higher in pastures. Land use increased poorly crystalline minerals (PCM’s), of which aluminum correlated best with MAOC. On the other hand, human’s acceleration of weathering led to acidification and higher losses of cations. This highlights a dilemma of lower soil quality but higher persistence of SOC due to millennia of pastoralism. The dynamics of soil genesis in the Anthropocene needs better understanding, but if human-induced weathering proves generally to promote soil carbon persistence it will need to be included in climate—soil feedback projections.

show abstract

“…In our study, microbial growth, and presumably necromass production, also increased with increased MAP (Figure 3). If necromass-C is preferentially stabilized in these soils, this could result in more persistent soil C over time, leading to an older average age for bulk soil C. In addition, greater rates of vertical flushing of water at our highest MAP site could also facilitate weathering and the development of secondary clay, aluminum, and iron oxide minerals that are key contributors to soil C storage and persistence (Rasmussen et al, 2018; Slessarev et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active populations and growth of soil microorganisms are framed by mean annual precipitation in three California annual grasslands

Foley

Blazewicz

McFarlane

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Earth system models project altered precipitation regimes across much of the globe. In California, the winter wet season is predicted to extend into spring, and the summer dry period to lengthen. How altered precipitation will affect soil carbon (C) persistence is a key knowledge gap. However, we do not have a mechanistic understanding of how altered soil moisture regimes will affect microbial population dynamics. Using quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP), we compared total and active soil microbial communities across three California annual grassland ecosystems that span a rainfall gradient and have developed upon similar parent material. We also assessed multiple edaphic variables, including available C and the radiocarbon (14C) age of soil C. Samples were assayed in the wet season, when we expected environmental conditions would be most similar across sites. We hypothesized that the long-term legacy of soil water limitation would be reflected in lower community growth capacity at the driest site. We also predicted that actively growing communities would be more compositionally similar across the gradient than the total background microbiome. Across the three sites, edaphic parameters such as pH roughly sorted with mean annual precipitation, and soil carbon age increased with precipitation. Bacterial growth rates increased from the driest site to the intermediate site, and rates were comparable between the intermediate and wettest sites. These differences were persistent across major phyla, including the Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. Taxonomic identity was a strong predictor of growth, such that the growth rates of a taxon at one site predicted its growth rates at the others. We think this fact, that taxa that grew quickly at one site tended to grow quickly at the others, is likely a consequence of genetically determined physiological traits, and is consistent with the idea that evolutionary history influences growth rate.

show abstract

Rock weathering controls the potential for soil carbon storage at a continental scale

Cited by 42 publications

References 37 publications

Global distribution, formation and fate of mineral‐associated soil organic matter under a changing climate: A trait‐based perspective

Global distribution, formation and fate of mineral‐associated soil organic matter under a changing climate: A trait‐based perspective

Land-use induced soil carbon stabilization at the expense of rock derived nutrients: insights from pristine Andean soils

Active populations and growth of soil microorganisms are framed by mean annual precipitation in three California annual grasslands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About