Soil organic matter turnover is governed by accessibility not recalcitrance

Abstract Mechanisms to mitigate global climate change by sequestering carbon ( C ) in different ‘sinks' have been proposed as at least temporary measures. Of the major global C pools, terrestrial ecosystems hold the potential to capture and store substantially increased volumes of C in soil organic matter ( SOM ) through changes in management that are also of benefit to the multitude of ecosystem services that soils provide. This potential can only be realized by determining the amount of SOM stored in soils now, with subsequent quantification of how this is affected by management strategies intended to increase SOM concentrations, and used in soil C models for the prediction of the roles of soils in future…

• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BBS/E/C/00005214, BBS/E/C/00004982, BBS/E/C/00005744