Soil aggregates are the basic units of soil structure and serve as a reservoir for soil carbon, playing a crucial role in the carbon cycle of ecosystems. The pore characteristics of soil aggregates influence the mineralization of soil organic carbon. However, research on the mechanisms of soil organic carbon sequestration at the aggregate level in Mollisols is limited.
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: Visualization of pore in situ soil columns (a) and > 2 mm aggregates-filled soil columns (b). Credit: Xiao Yang Recently, a research team led by Prof. Liu Xiaobing and Prof. Zhang Xingyi from the Key Laboratory of Black Soils Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Science revealed that pore connectivity and anisotropy affect carbon mineralization via extracellular enzymes in > 2 mm aggregates under conservation tillage of Mollisols. The work was published in Soil and Tillage Research. The study is based on a long-term location experiment of conservation tillage established at Hailun Station in 2004,…