Distinct temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition in forest organic layer and mineral soil

The mineralization of soil carbon materials potentially alters carbon release from soil and the atmospheric carbon concentration in engineering. Despite this central role in the decomposition of soil carbon materials, few studies have been conducted on how climate warming affects this carbon emissions and then response in return back. To study this, five soils were incubated in 5, 15, 25 °C for one month. Soil shifted to warming condition slowed down the increasing rate of decomposition causing by higher temperature. Furthermore, raising the soil environment temperature to 25 °C weakened the temperature sensitivity of the decomposition of these carbon materials, and the temperature sensitivity enhanced at lower temperature. This “thermal adaptation” of carbon material would potentially slow down carbon loss which accelerated by climate change technically.

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Alpine meadow degradation enhances the temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition on the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau

Applied Soil Ecology ◽

10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.104290 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 170 ◽

pp. 104290

Author(s):

Junmin Pei ◽

Dong Yan ◽

Jinquan Li ◽

La Qiong ◽

Yuanwu Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Alpine Meadow ◽

Carbon Decomposition ◽

Alpine Meadow Degradation ◽

Meadow Degradation

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Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change

Nature ◽

10.1038/nature04514 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 440 (7081) ◽

pp. 165-173 ◽

Cited By ~ 3441

Author(s):

Eric A. Davidson ◽

Ivan A. Janssens

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Carbon Decomposition

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Bioturbation by wild boar increases the stability of forest soil carbon

10.5194/bg-2019-113 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Axel Don ◽

Christina Hagen ◽

Erik Grüneberg ◽

Cora Vos

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Wild Boar ◽

Forest Soils ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Organic Layer ◽

Carbon Transfer ◽

The Stability

Abstract. Most forest soils are characterised by a steep carbon gradient from the forest floor to the mineral soil, indicating that carbon is prevented from entry into the soil. Bioturbation can help incorporate litter-derived carbon into the mineral soil. Wild boar are effective at mixing and grubbing in the soil and wild boar populations are increasing in many parts of the world. In a six-year field study, we investigated the effect of wild boar bioturbation on the stocks and stability of soil organic carbon in two forest areas. Regular bioturbation mimicking grubbing by wild boar was performed artificially in 23 plots and the organic layer and mineral soil down to 15 cm depth were then sampled. No significant changes in soil organic carbon stocks were detected in the bioturbation plots compared with non-disturbed reference plots. However, around 50 % of forest floor carbon was transferred with bioturbation to mineral soil carbon and the stock of stabilised mineral-associated carbon increased by 28 %. Thus, a large proportion of the labile carbon in the forest floor was transformed into more stable carbon. Carbon saturation of mineral surfaces was not detected, but carbon loading per unit mineral surface increased by on average 66 % in the forest floor due to bioturbation. This indicates that mineral forest soils have non-used capacity to stabilise and store carbon. Transfer of aboveground litter into the mineral soil is the only rate-limiting process. Wild boar can help to speed up this process with their grubbing activity.

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Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition due to shifts in soil extracellular enzymes after afforestation

Geoderma ◽

10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114426 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 374 ◽

pp. 114426

Author(s):

J.Y. Wang ◽

C.J. Ren ◽

X.X. Feng ◽

L. Zhang ◽

R. Doughty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Extracellular Enzymes ◽

Carbon Decomposition

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Inversely estimating temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition by assimilating a turnover model and long-term field data

Soil Biology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.11.005 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 191-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Gen Sakurai ◽

Mayuko Jomura ◽

Seiichiro Yonemura ◽

Toshichika Iizumi ◽

Yasuhito Shirato ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Field Data ◽

Carbon Decomposition ◽

Turnover Model ◽

Term Field

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A new approach to simulate peat accumulation, degradation and stability in a global land surface scheme (JULES vn5.8_accumulate_soil)

10.5194/gmd-2021-263 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah E. Chadburn ◽

Eleanor J. Burke ◽

Angela V. Gallego-Sala ◽

Noah D. Smith ◽

M. Syndonia Bret-Harte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Land Surface ◽

Organic Material ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Organic Soil ◽

Organic Layer ◽

New Approach ◽

Land Surface Scheme ◽

Mineral Soils ◽

Surface Scheme

Abstract. Peatlands have often been neglected in Earth System Models (ESMs). Where they are included, they are usually represented via a separate, prescribed grid cell fraction that is given the physical characteristics of a peat (highly organic) soil. However, in reality soils vary on a spectrum between purely mineral soil (no organic material), and purely organic soil, typically with an organic layer of variable thickness overlying mineral soil below. They are also dynamic, with organic layer thickness and its properties changing over time. Neither the spectrum of soil types nor their dynamic nature can be captured by current ESMs. Here we present a new version of an ESM land surface scheme (Joint UK Land Environment Simulator, JULES) where soil organic matter accumulation - and thus peatland formation, degradation and stability – is integrated in the vertically-resolved soil carbon scheme. We also introduce the capacity to track soil carbon age as a function of depth in JULES, and compare this to measured peat age-depth profiles. This scheme simulates dynamic feedbacks between the soil organic material and its thermal and hydraulic characteristics. We show that draining the peatlands can lead to significant carbon loss along with soil compaction and changes in peat properties. However, negative feedbacks can lead to the potential for peatlands to rewet themselves following drainage. These ecohydrological feedbacks can also lead to peatlands maintaining themselves in climates where peat formation would not otherwise initiate in the model, i.e. displaying some degree of resilience. The new model produces similar results to the original model for mineral soils, and realistic profiles of soil organic carbon for peatlands. In particular the best performing configurations had root mean squared error (RMSE) in carbon density for peat sites of 7.7–16.7 kgC m−3 depending on climate zone, when compared against typical peat profiles based on 216 sites from a global dataset of peat cores. This error is considerably smaller than the soil carbon itself (around 30–60 kgC m−3) and reduced by 35–80 % compared with standard JULES. The RMSE at mineral soil sites is also smaller in JULES-Peat than JULES itself (reduced by ~30–50 %). Thus JULES-Peat can be used as a complete scheme that simulates both organic and mineral soils. It does not require any additional input data and introduces minimal additional variables to the model. This provides a new approach for improving the simulation of organic and peatland soils, and associated carbon-cycle feedbacks in ESMs, which other land surface models could follow.

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Biochar decreased the temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition in a paddy field

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2017.08.029 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 249 ◽

pp. 156-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Junmin Pei ◽

Shuo Zhuang ◽

Jun Cui ◽

Jinquan Li ◽

Bo Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Paddy Field ◽

Carbon Decomposition

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