Soil stores more carbon than Earth’s atmosphere and plants combined, which makes the speed of soil carbon’s decomposition an important variable in models used to predict changes to the climate.
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Chaoqun Lu
Soil-carbon decomposition varies vastly
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Organic carbon decomposition in soil varies significantly and in regional patterns, driven in part by factors such as soil minerals and microbial properties that have been underrepresented in carbon modeling that helps inform climate projections, according to a new research led by Iowa State University ecologists.
Spatial patterns of decomposability for soil particulate organic carbon and mineral-associated organic carbon across the contiguous United States are displayed at a resolution representing squares about 2.5 miles per side. The criteria for low and high residence time and carbon use efficiency for POC and MAOC are set to the 25th and 75th percentile of all grid values. White areas represent regions falling within the interquartile range -- 25th to 75th percentile -- for carbon residence time or carbon use efficiency, indicating moderate decomposability.
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