Articles | Volume 1, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-313-2015
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-313-2015
Review article
 | 
09 Apr 2015
Review article |  | 09 Apr 2015

Investigating microbial transformations of soil organic matter: synthesizing knowledge from disparate fields to guide new experimentation

S. A. Billings, L. K. Tiemann, F. Ballantyne IV, C. A. Lehmeier, and K. Min

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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish as is (14 Mar 2015) by Karolien Denef
ED: Publish as is (15 Mar 2015) by Johan Six (Executive editor)
AR by Sharon Billings on behalf of the Authors (24 Mar 2015)  Author's response   Manuscript 
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Short summary
We highlight observations relevant to soil organic matter (SOM) decay and retention but often emanating from disparate fields. First, we describe relevant natural and artificial aquatic environments. Second, we describe how intrinsic patterns of decay kinetics for purified soil substrates are useful for defining baseline rates. Third, we describe theoretical advances important for the discipline. Last, we describe how these advances can be used to unravel the mysteries of deep SOM persistence.
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