“…Wood stake mass loss followed the order of the two Populus > pine, which was in line with previous research, for example, (Jurgensen et al., 2006; Page‐Dumroese, Jurgensen, et al., 2021; Page‐Dumroese, Sanchez, et al., 2021; Risch et al., 2022), that wood from deciduous species, in our case poplar and aspen stakes, have less lignin, lower lignin: N, and C:N as compared to coniferous species, making them more susceptible to decay fungi (Hu et al., 2018; Perez et al., 2021). Biochar, manure, or other soil additives can affect belowground C flux directly by promoting the utilization of microbial available C, for example, original or fresh SOM; (Cui et al., 2017; Ventura et al., 2019), or indirectly by changing soil physicochemical and biological (e.g., microbial biomass and composition) properties (Steinbeiss et al., 2009; Wu et al., 2021).…”