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Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-363-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-363-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
Forum article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
05 May 2025
Forum article | Highlight paper |  | 05 May 2025

Missing the input: the underrepresentation of plant physiology in global soil carbon research

Sajjad Raza, Hannah V. Cooper, Nicholas T. Girkin, Matthew S. Kent, Malcolm J. Bennett, Sacha J. Mooney, and Tino Colombi

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Executive editor
This is an important forum article highlighting the lack of awareness into plant physiology in global soil carbon research. This issue is highly relevant as much of soil carbon cycling is driven by plant activity, in particular in the rhizosphere or related to plant symbionts. Their results are clear—the large majority of soil carbon studies do not include plant physiology even though a plant physiological perspective could provide novel or more mechanistic insights on soil carbon processes and could inform a new direction in soil carbon modelling.
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Short summary
Plant physiology has been addressed by less than 10 % of peer-reviewed soil organic carbon research published in the last century. Thus, our understanding of soil carbon dynamics is overwhelmingly built on research that neglects the fundamental processes underlying organic carbon inputs. Active engagement of plant scientists in soil carbon research is imperative for shedding light on this blind spot and developing holistic policies that support soil carbon sequestration.
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