Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024
SOIL Letters
 | Highlight paper
 | 
15 Apr 2024
SOIL Letters | Highlight paper |  | 15 Apr 2024

The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation

Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek

Related authors

Spatiotemporal variability of CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes from a semi-deciduous tropical forest soil in the Congo Basin
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
Biogeosciences, 22, 1529–1542, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025, 2025
Short summary
A microbially driven and depth-explicit soil organic carbon model constrained by carbon isotopes to reduce parameter equifinality
Marijn Van de Broek, Gerard Govers, Marion Schrumpf, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 22, 1427–1446, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1427-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1427-2025, 2025
Short summary
Green water availability and water-limited crop yields under a changing climate in Ethiopia
Mosisa Tujuba Wakjira, Nadav Peleg, Johan Six, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 863–886, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Aquatic and Soil CO2 Emissions from forested wetlands of Congo's Cuvette Centrale
Antoine de Clippele, Astrid C. H. Jaeger, Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Clement Botefa, Glenn Bush, Jessica Carilli, Travis W. Drake, Christian Ekamba, Gode Lompoko, Nivens Bey Mukwiele, Kristof Van Oost, Roland A. Werner, Joseph Zambo, Johan Six, and Matti Barthel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3313, 2024
Short summary
Diachronic assessment of soil organic C and N dynamics under long-term no-till cropping systems in the tropical upland of Cambodia
Vira Leng, Rémi Cardinael, Florent Tivet, Vang Seng, Phearum Mark, Pascal Lienhard, Titouan Filloux, Johan Six, Lyda Hok, Stéphane Boulakia, Clever Briedis, João Carlos de Moraes Sá, and Laurent Thuriès
SOIL, 10, 699–725, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-699-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Soils and biogeochemical cycling
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of soil respiration in a bare-soil Mediterranean olive grove
Sergio Aranda-Barranco, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Andrew S. Kowalski, and Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete
SOIL, 11, 213–232, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-213-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-213-2025, 2025
Short summary
Depth dependence of soil organic carbon additional storage capacity in different soil types by the 2050 target for carbon neutrality
Clémentine Chirol, Geoffroy Séré, Paul-Olivier Redon, Claire Chenu, and Delphine Derrien
SOIL, 11, 149–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-149-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-149-2025, 2025
Short summary
Biochar reduces early-stage mineralization rates of plant residues more in coarse-textured soils than in fine-textured soils – an artificial-soil approach
Thiago M. Inagaki, Simon Weldon, Franziska B. Bucka, Eva Farkas, and Daniel P. Rasse
SOIL, 11, 141–147, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-141-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-141-2025, 2025
Short summary
Soil organic carbon mineralization is controlled by the application dose of exogenous organic matter
Orly Mendoza, Stefaan De Neve, Heleen Deroo, Haichao Li, Astrid Françoys, and Steven Sleutel
SOIL, 11, 105–119, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-105-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-105-2025, 2025
Short summary
Effect of colloidal particle size on physicochemical properties and aggregation behaviors of two alkaline soils
Yuyang Yan, Xinran Zhang, Chenyang Xu, Junjun Liu, Feinan Hu, and Zengchao Geng
SOIL, 11, 85–94, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-85-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-85-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Amelung, W. and Zech, W.: Minimisation of organic matter disruption during particle-size fractionation of grassland epipedons, Geoderma, 92, 73–85, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(99)00023-3, 1999. 
Beare, M. H., McNeill, S. J., Curtin, D., Parfitt, R. L., Jones, H. S., Dodd, M. B., and Sharp, J.: Estimating the organic carbon stabilisation capacity and saturation deficit of soils: a New Zealand case study, Biogeochemistry, 120, 71–87, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-014-9982-1, 2014. 
Begill, N., Don, A., and Poeplau, C.: No detectable upper limit of mineral-associated organic carbon in temperate agricultural soils, Glob. Change Biol., 29, 4662–4669, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16804, 2023. 
Cotrufo, M. F., Ranalli, M. G., Haddix, M. L., Six, J., and Lugato, E.: Soil carbon storage informed by particulate and mineral-associated organic matter, Nat. Geosci., 12, 989–994, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0484-6, 2019. 
Feng, W., Plante, A. F., and Six, J.: Improving estimates of maximal organic carbon stabilization by fine soil particles, Biogeochemistry, 112, 81–93, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9679-7, 2013. 
Download
Executive editor
This manuscript is published as SOIL Letters publication as it provides a timely and important contribution, formulating six fundamental principles for the robust study of soil carbon saturation. This is an important topic in research on soil carbon and its role in climate change mitigation which should be of interest to the wider geoscience community.
Short summary
Soil C saturation has been tested in several recent studies and led to a debate about its existence. We argue that, to test C saturation, one should pay attention to six fundamental principles: the right measures, the right units, the right dispersive energy and application, the right soil type, the right clay type, and the right saturation level. Once we take care of those six rights across studies, we find support for a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and thus soil C saturation.
Share