What is the trajectory of change in the spread among models of the projected magnitude of the feedback?

The trajectory of change in the spread among models of the projected magnitude of the feedback 762 is less assured and may increase when structural uncertainty is represented.

What is the role of the model 229 in the soil C cycle?

model 229 structures represent the fact that the rate of soil nitrogen (N) supply can strongly constrain plant 230 growth responses to elevated atmospheric CO282.

What can be done to improve the confidence in the estimates of C stock responses?

if 405 such long-term studies use isotopic and fractionation approaches36-39 to resolve the turnover of 406 soil C of differing sensitivities to warming, then inferences that shorter-term responses can be 407 used to estimate total C stock responses can be validated.

How do the authors know how to represent organismal responses to climate change?

121 122 Organisms modify direct warming effects 123 Knowing how to best represent organismal responses to climate change in biogeochemical 124 models is a significant challenge45.

What are the issues with using such techniques to infer change in stock sizes?

the issues with using 104 such techniques to infer change in stock sizes echoes those for decomposition; environmental 105 change can alter the sizes of individual C pools or fluxes without altering the total stock40.

what is the role of microbial production in global 591 soils?

590 62 Liang, C. & Balser, T. C. Microbial production of recalcitrant organic matter in global 591 soils: implications for productivity and climate policy.

What are the four ways forward for modellers and empiricists to focus efforts?

The authors propose four ways forward for modellers and empiricists to focus efforts on 285 identifying and addressing critical and tangible assumptions that generate low confidence in 286 projected soil C stock responses.

What is the simplest way to represent the complexity of processes influencing soil C?

This opinion piece proposed a 470 modular model structure to represent the complexity of processes influencing soil C 471 turnover, bringing representations of soil C turnover in line with those of 472 photosynthesis in ecosystem and global models.

Open AccessJournal Article10.1038/NCLIMATE3071

Managing uncertainty in soil carbon feedbacks to climate change

Mark A. Bradford, +7 more

- 01 Aug 2016

- Nature Climate Change

- Vol. 6, Iss: 8, pp 751-758

690

TL;DR: In this paper, the uncertainties and modelling challenges involved in projecting soil responses to global warming are considered, and a review of the modelling challenges and uncertainties involved in predicting soil responses is presented.

Abstract: Climate change may accelerate decomposition of soil carbon leading to a reinforcing cycle of further warming and soil carbon loss. This Review considers the uncertainties and modelling challenges involved in projecting soil responses to warming.

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Most frequently asked questions

1. How can the authors reduce the spread in the projected magnitude of the C-climate feedback?

Once structural uncertainty is represented and reduced, the aim to lessen the spread in the 337 projected magnitude of the C-climate feedback by refining parameter estimates26,79,81 will be of 338 great value.

2. What are the vulnerable pools of soil C to warming?

The most vulnerable pools of soil C to warming are likely those in 186 organic-rich soils, such as wetlands and in permafrost, where the lack of oxygen and liquid 187 water, respectively, slow microbial decomposition.

3. How much of the soil C will be decomposed to CO2?

With 189 warming, C in these soils will increasingly pass through the funnel, resulting in a major fraction 190 being decomposed to CO2 and a small fraction becoming microbial products available for “re-191 stabilisation”.

4. What is the role of the ESMs in influencing the projected terrestrial C cycle feedbacks?

226 Representing structural uncertainty in soil processes in the ESMs has the potential to 227 drastically change projected terrestrial C cycle feedbacks.

Citations

Other•10.1093/oso/9780198789406.002.0003

Copyright Page

19 Jul 2018

TL;DR: Copyright page extracts information about Oxford University Press and its publications, including copyright information, permissions, and disclaimers.

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•Peer Review•10.5194/egusphere-2023-210-rc1

Comment on egusphere-2023-210

23 Mar 2023

TL;DR: In this article , the authors used a mathematical model to analyse how the calculated number of pools, decomposition rates of carbon, transfer, and partitioning coefficients affect the relation between the Δ¹⁴C of the bulk soil and the & Δ Δ Δ CO ₂ of respired carbon as a function of temperature and WFPS.

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Franca Giannini Kurina, +6 more

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The world of underground ecology in a changing environment

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- 01 Jan 2023

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References

Climate change 2007: the physical science basis

Susan Solomon, +7 more

- 01 Jan 2007

TL;DR: The first volume of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report as mentioned in this paper was published in 2007 and covers several topics including the extensive range of observations now available for the atmosphere and surface, changes in sea level, assesses the paleoclimatic perspective, climate change causes both natural and anthropogenic, and climate models for projections of global climate.

...read moreread less

35.4K

•Journal Article•10.1038/NATURE04514

Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change

Eric A. Davidson, +1 more

- 09 Mar 2006

- Nature

TL;DR: This work has suggested that several environmental constraints obscure the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of substrate decomposition, causing lower observed ‘apparent’ temperature sensitivity, and these constraints may, themselves, be sensitive to climate.

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6.4K

•Journal Article•10.1038/NATURE10386

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Michael W. I. Schmidt, +15 more

- 06 Oct 2011

- Nature

TL;DR: In this article, a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models were proposed to predict the SOM response to global warming, and they showed that molecular structure alone alone does not control SOM stability.

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Journal Article•10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0423:TVDOSO]2.0.CO;2

The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation

Esteban G. Jobbágy, +1 more

- 01 Apr 2000

- Ecological Applications

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the association of soil organic carbon (SOC) content with climate and soil texture at different soil depths, and tested the hypothesis that vegetation type, through patterns of allocation, is a dominant control on the vertical distribution of SOC.

...read moreread less

Journal Article•10.2136/SSSAJ1987.03615995005100050015X

Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands

William J. Parton, +3 more

- 01 Sep 1987

- Soil Science Society of America Journal

TL;DR: In this article, a model of soil organic matter (SOM) quantity and composition was used to simulate steady-state organic matter levels for 24 grassland locations in the U.S. Great Plains.

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3.8K

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Managing uncertainty in soil carbon feedbacks to climate change

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AI Agents for this Paper

Most frequently asked questions

1. How can the authors reduce the spread in the projected magnitude of the C-climate feedback?

2. What are the vulnerable pools of soil C to warming?

3. How much of the soil C will be decomposed to CO2?

4. What is the role of the ESMs in influencing the projected terrestrial C cycle feedbacks?

5. What is the trajectory of change in the spread among models of the projected magnitude of the feedback?

6. What is the role of the model 229 in the soil C cycle?

7. What can be done to improve the confidence in the estimates of C stock responses?

8. How do the authors know how to represent organismal responses to climate change?

9. What are the issues with using such techniques to infer change in stock sizes?

10. what is the role of microbial production in global 591 soils?

11. What are the four ways forward for modellers and empiricists to focus efforts?

12. What is the simplest way to represent the complexity of processes influencing soil C?

Citations

Copyright Page

Comment on egusphere-2023-210

Modelling and Validating Soil Carbon Dynamics at the Long-Term Plot Scale Using Rctool R Package

Exploring the role of the rhizosphere in soil carbon cycling: impacts on pools and components of SOC along a chronosequence of Cryptomeria japonica plantations in subtropical China

The world of underground ecology in a changing environment

References

Climate change 2007: the physical science basis

Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation

Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands

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Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change

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