Carbon sequestration in soils can contribute to mitigate climate change, and soil organic matter associated with minerals has the highest capacity to store carbon. A team of researchers, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, assessed the factors controlling mineral-associated organic matter.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Burying sample containers with minerals in the soil. Credit: Ingo Schöning, MPI-BGC Their study, published in Global Change Biology, demonstrates that while the amount and rate of its formation is primarily controlled by the mineral composition, both land use and management intensity also affect mineral-associated organic matter on short time scales. Soil organic carbon is not only important for soil fertility and food production, but also plays an important role in Earth's climate since about 7% of atmospheric CO 2 is cycling through soils every year. Since the onset of agriculture, soils have lost significant amounts of carbon to the atmosphere. To mitigate climate change, we therefore need to understand, how additional carbon losses can be prevented and soil carbon stocks can be restored. When associated with minerals, soil organic carbon has an increased residence time and resistance to disturbances. The formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is thus a key process in the global carbon cycle. However, despite decades of research, it remained unresolved how mineral composition and land management intensity affect MAOM formation. To address this research gap, more than 3,500 permeable containers filled with carbon-free goethite, a representative iron oxide in the soil, or illite, a representative silicate clay…