Subsoil particulate organic matter is more responsive  to  ∼ 10 years of whole-soil warming than mineral-associated organic matter in a temperate forest

Sun, Binyan; Wiesenberg, Guido L. B.; Pegoraro, Elaine; Torn, Margaret S.; Schmidt, Michael W. I.; Rowley, Mike C.

doi:10.5194/soil-12-757-2026

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-757-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-757-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

Original research article

|

13 Jul 2026

Original research article |

| 13 Jul 2026

Subsoil particulate organic matter is more responsive to ∼ 10 years of whole-soil warming than mineral-associated organic matter in a temperate forest

Binyan Sun, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Elaine Pegoraro, Margaret S. Torn, Michael W. I. Schmidt, and Mike C. Rowley

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-757-2026-supplement

Data sets

Effects of 9.5 years warming on SOC concentration and composition in bulk soil and density fractions Binyan Sun et al. https://doi.org/10.15485/3024414

Short summary

Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon pool but vulnerable to loss under warming. Using a +4 °C whole-soil warming experiment at Blodgett Forest Research Station to 1 m depth, we investigated density fractions across depths. Below 50 cm, carbon quantity and composition shifted, mainly from losses of unprotected soil organic carbon. Soil carbon protected by minerals stayed largely stable, indicating organo-mineral protection buffers subsoil carbon loss.