Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-561-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-561-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
04 May 2026
Original research article |
| 04 May 2026
| 04 May 2026
Destabilization of buried carbon under changing moisture regimes
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, California, 95343, United States
Manisha Dolui
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, California, 95343, United States
Abbygail R. McMurtry
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 North Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, United States
Stephanie Chacon
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, California, 95343, United States
Joseph A. Mason
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho, 83725, United States
Laura M. Phillips
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 North Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, United States
Erika Marin-Spiotta
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho, 83725, United States
Marie-Anne de Graaff
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 North Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, United States
Asmeret A. Berhe
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, California, 95343, United States
Teamrat A. Ghezzehei
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, California, 95343, United States
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Jennifer Alvarez-Sagrero, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephany S. Chacon, Jeffrey P. Mitchell, and Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6047, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6047, 2025
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We studied California farmland managed with conservation practices for 20 years to understand how reducing tillage and planting cover crops affects soil health. These practices dramatically improved soil structure and doubled carbon storage in surface soils. Importantly, soils still have substantial capacity to store more carbon even after two decades. These findings show conservation farming can combat climate change while improving water retention in drought-prone regions.
Leila Maria Wahab, Sora L. Kim, and Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Biogeosciences, 22, 3915–3930, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3915-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3915-2025, 2025
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Soils are a large reservoir of carbon (C) on land, and there is uncertainty regarding how this reservoir will be affected by climate change. Currently, active research on (1) how changing precipitation patterns, a key aspect of climate change, will affect soil C and (2) how vulnerable subsoils are to climate change is still being undertaken. In this study, we examined subsoils after 20 years of experimentally manipulated precipitation shifts to see whether increasing precipitation would affect C amounts and chemistry.
Toshiyuki Bandai and Teamrat A. Ghezzehei
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4469–4495, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4469-2022, 2022
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Scientists use a physics-based equation to simulate water dynamics that influence hydrological and ecological phenomena. We present hybrid physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) to leverage the growing availability of soil moisture data and advances in machine learning. We showed that PINNs perform comparably to traditional methods and enable the estimation of rainfall rates from soil moisture. However, PINNs are challenging to train and significantly slower than traditional methods.
Moritz Mainka, Laura Summerauer, Daniel Wasner, Gina Garland, Marco Griepentrog, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, and Sebastian Doetterl
Biogeosciences, 19, 1675–1689, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1675-2022, 2022
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The largest share of terrestrial carbon is stored in soils, making them highly relevant as regards global change. Yet, the mechanisms governing soil carbon stabilization are not well understood. The present study contributes to a better understanding of these processes. We show that qualitative changes in soil organic matter (SOM) co-vary with alterations of the soil matrix following soil weathering. Hence, the type of SOM that is stabilized in soils might change as soils develop.
Samuel N. Araya, Jeffrey P. Mitchell, Jan W. Hopmans, and Teamrat A. Ghezzehei
SOIL, 8, 177–198, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-177-2022, 2022
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We studied the long-term effects of no-till (NT) and winter cover cropping (CC) practices on soil hydraulic properties. We measured soil water retention and conductivity and also conducted numerical simulations to compare soil water storage abilities under the different systems. Soils under NT and CC practices had improved soil structure. Conservation agriculture practices showed marginal improvement with respect to infiltration rates and water storage.
Jing Yan and Teamrat Ghezzehei
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-52, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-52, 2022
Publication in BG not foreseen
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Although hydraulic redistribution (HR) is a well-documented phenomenon, whether it is a passive happy accident or actively controlled by roots is not well understood. Our modeling study suggests HR is long-range feedback between roots that inhabit heterogeneously resourced soil regions. When nutrients and organic matter are concentrated in shallow layers that experience frequent drying, root-exudation facilitated HR allows plants to mineralize and extract the otherwise inaccessible nutrients.
Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai J. Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Samantha Ying, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, and Kate M. Scow
SOIL, 8, 59–83, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022, 2022
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Storing C in subsoils can help mitigate climate change, but this requires a better understanding of subsoil C dynamics. We investigated changes in subsoil C storage under a combination of compost, cover crops (WCC), and mineral fertilizer and found that systems with compost + WCC had ~19 Mg/ha more C after 25 years. This increase was attributed to increased transport of soluble C and nutrients via WCC root pores and demonstrates the potential for subsoil C storage in tilled agricultural systems.
Sophie F. von Fromm, Alison M. Hoyt, Markus Lange, Gifty E. Acquah, Ermias Aynekulu, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephan M. Haefele, Steve P. McGrath, Keith D. Shepherd, Andrew M. Sila, Johan Six, Erick K. Towett, Susan E. Trumbore, Tor-G. Vågen, Elvis Weullow, Leigh A. Winowiecki, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 305–332, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021, 2021
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We investigated various soil and climate properties that influence soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings indicate that climate and geochemistry are equally important for explaining SOC variations. The key SOC-controlling factors are broadly similar to those for temperate regions, despite differences in soil development history between the two regions.
Samuel N. Araya, Anna Fryjoff-Hung, Andreas Anderson, Joshua H. Viers, and Teamrat A. Ghezzehei
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2739–2758, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2739-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2739-2021, 2021
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We took aerial photos of a grassland area using an unoccupied aerial vehicle and used the images to estimate soil moisture via machine learning. We were able to estimate soil moisture with high accuracy. Furthermore, by analyzing the machine learning models we developed, we learned how different factors drive the distribution of moisture across the landscape. Among the factors, rainfall, evapotranspiration, and topography were most important in controlling surface soil moisture distribution.
William R. Wieder, Derek Pierson, Stevan Earl, Kate Lajtha, Sara G. Baer, Ford Ballantyne, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Sharon A. Billings, Laurel M. Brigham, Stephany S. Chacon, Jennifer Fraterrigo, Serita D. Frey, Katerina Georgiou, Marie-Anne de Graaff, A. Stuart Grandy, Melannie D. Hartman, Sarah E. Hobbie, Chris Johnson, Jason Kaye, Emily Kyker-Snowman, Marcy E. Litvak, Michelle C. Mack, Avni Malhotra, Jessica A. M. Moore, Knute Nadelhoffer, Craig Rasmussen, Whendee L. Silver, Benjamin N. Sulman, Xanthe Walker, and Samantha Weintraub
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1843–1854, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1843-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1843-2021, 2021
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Data collected from research networks present opportunities to test theories and develop models about factors responsible for the long-term persistence and vulnerability of soil organic matter (SOM). Here we present the SOils DAta Harmonization database (SoDaH), a flexible database designed to harmonize diverse SOM datasets from multiple research networks.
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Short summary
Buried ancient topsoils (Brady paleosol, Nebraska) sequester vast amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC). We found repeated drying/rewetting causes greater carbon (C) loss than continuous wetting, destabilizing the slow-cycling C pool, especially in shallower soils. Decomposition rates are higher in erosional settings. Burial depth and moisture regime are key to the long-term vulnerability of these ancient C stocks under climate change.
Buried ancient topsoils (Brady paleosol, Nebraska) sequester vast amounts of soil organic carbon...
