Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-805-2026
© 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-12-805-2026
© 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
| 
03 Aug 2026
Original research article |
| 03 Aug 2026
| 03 Aug 2026
Temporal dynamics of particulate and mineral-associated carbon reveal three timescales of response to experimental manipulation
Franco Fernández-Catinot
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, Germany
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (UNC-CONICET) 5016 Córdoba, Argentina
Wanjia Hu
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, Germany
State Key Laboratory of Forage Breeding-by-Design and Utilization, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
Agustín Sarquis
Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecolígicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (UBA-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cátedra de Ecología, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
María Victoria Vaieretti
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (UNC-CONICET) 5016 Córdoba, Argentina
Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
Natalia Pérez-Harguindeguy
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (UNC-CONICET) 5016 Córdoba, Argentina
Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
Xiaojuan Feng
State Key Laboratory of Forage Breeding-by-Design and Utilization, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
Carlos A. Sierra
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, Germany
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Marie Spohn, Carina Josefsson Ortiz, and Carlos A. Sierra
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3238, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3238, 2026
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We found that old soil organic matter (SOM) fractions in temperate forests are very nitrogen-rich. A larger proportion of the total organic nitrogen than of the total organic carbon was found in the old SOM fractions suggesting that organic nitrogen compounds decompose on average more slowly than nitrogen-free organic compounds. These results indicate that nitrogen in temperate forests persists for a long period in SOM.
Joao Henrique Fernandes Amaral, Santiago Botía, Paula Torres Quintero, Anghy Sthephany Gutierrez Rincon, David Ho, Adriana Sanchez, Alvaro Avila-Diaz, Antje Uhde, Benjamin Quesada, Juan C. Benavides, R. Scott Winton, Carlos A. Sierra, Miguel A. Navarro-Ramírez, Diego David Pardo Buitrago, and Stijn Hantson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2080, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2080, 2026
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Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas driving climate change. Atmospheric methane levels are rising by anthropogenic emissions from livestock, oil and gas, rice farms, fires, and, naturally, mainly from wetlands. Tropical wetlands are a major source, yet data is uncertain. Our study examines South America's Orinoco wetlands (Colombia, Venezuela), reviewing emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources. We discuss and identify research needed to better understand this ecosystem's methane cycle.
Maximiliano González-Sosa, Carlos A. Sierra, J. Andrés Quincke, Walter E. Baethgen, Andrés Tangarife-Escobar, Susan Trumbore, and M. Virginia Pravia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2227, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
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Based on a time series of soil organic carbon (SOC) and radiocarbon data from a long-term experiment (LTE) in Uruguay and their incorporation into dynamic compartmental models, we determined that integrated crop-pasture systems have a very high capacity to recover SOC stocks in previously degraded systems. However, this newly gained C would likely be stored in forms susceptible to environmental or management changes that could lead to its subsequent preferential loss.
Jeffrey Beem-Miller, William J. Riley, Peter B. Reich, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Yuxuan Bai, Raimundo Bermudez Villanueva, Zach Brown, Abad Chabbi, Susan E. Crow, Wenxu Dong, Serita D. Frey, Paul J. Hanson, Kai Jensen, Melissa A. Knorr, Emma Lathrop, Avni Malhotra, Patrick Megonigal, Adrienne Nicotra, Andrew Nottingham, Genevieve L. Noyce, Roy L. Rich, Heidi Rodenhizer, Agustín Sarquis, Andreas Schindlbacher, Edward A. G. Schuur, Zheng Shi, Artur Stefanski, Viktoria Unger, Tana E. Wood, Yuanhe Yang, Zhijie Yang, Jizhong Zhou, Biao Zhu, and Margaret S. Torn
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-23, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-23, 2026
Revised manuscript under review for ESSD
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The Soil Warming to Depth Data Integration Effort (SWEDDIE) synthesizes data from deep soil warming experiments around the world (n = 23), offering new insight into warming responses of both surface and subsoils. We demonstrate that variation in soil warming with depth is driven largely by warming methodology, while soil moisture changes due to warming differ by ecosystem. This work serves a foundation for future syntheses with SWEDDIE.
Maximiliano González-Sosa, Carlos A. Sierra, Juan A. Quincke, Walter E. Baethgen, Susan Trumbore, and M. Virginia Pravia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6451, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6451, 2026
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Through the analysis and modeling of SOC and isotope (Δ14C and δ13C) data from contrasting treatments in a 60-year agricultural experiment, we found that mineral-associated SOC is highly isolated from recent atmospheric CO₂ inputs, with isolation increasing with soil depth. Integrated crop-pasture rotational systems have not been able to sequester substantial new carbon along the profile, particularly at depth, but they are relevant to preserve the natural carbon legacy of these soils.
Carlos A. Sierra, Ingrid Chanca, Meinrat O. Andreae, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Hella van Asperen, Lars Borchardt, Santiago Botía, Luiz Antonio Candido, Caio S. C. Correa, Cléo Quaresma Dias-Junior, Markus Eritt, Annica Fröhlich, Luciana V. Gatti, Marcus Guderle, Samuel Hammer, Martin Heimann, Viviana Horna, Armin Jordan, Steffen Knabe, Richard Kneißl, Jost Valentin Lavric, Ingeborg Levin, Kita Macario, Juliana Menger, Heiko Moossen, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Michael Rothe, Christian Rödenbeck, Yago Santos, Axel Steinhof, Bruno Takeshi, Susan Trumbore, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 5871–5884, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5871-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5871-2025, 2025
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We present here a unique dataset of atmospheric observations of greenhouse gases and isotopes that provide key information on land-atmosphere interactions for the Amazon forests of central Brazil. The data show a relatively large level of variability, but also important trends in greenhouse gases, and signals from fires as well as seasonal biological activity.
Carlos A. Sierra and Estefanía Muñoz
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 6701–6716, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6701-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6701-2025, 2025
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We propose an approach to obtain weights for calculating averages of variables from Earth system models (ESM) based on concepts from information theory. It quantifies a relative distance between model output and reality, even though it is impossible to know the absolute distance from model predictions to reality. The relative ranking among models is based on concepts of model selection and multi-model averages previously developed for simple statistical models, but adapted here for ESMs.
Valentina Lara, Carlos A. Sierra, Miguel A. Peña, Sebastián Ramirez, Diego Navarrete, Juan F. Phillips, and Álvaro Duque
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2959, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2959, 2025
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Impacts of deforestation on the soil level are commonly overlooked. Conversion of Amazon rainforest to pastures increases soil compaction and decreases soil carbon storage, with lasting effects over time and across soil depth. After decades, pasture accumulated soil carbon doesn't match the original forest stocks. These changes may worsen climate change by reducing the Amazon basin ability to store carbon, highlighting the need to protect these ecosystems, from canopy to soil.
Ingrid Chanca, Ingeborg Levin, Susan Trumbore, Kita Macario, Jost Lavric, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Cléo Quaresma Dias Júnior, Hella van Asperen, Samuel Hammer, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 22, 455–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-455-2025, 2025
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Assessing the net carbon (C) budget of the Amazon entails considering the magnitude and timing of C absorption and losses through respiration (transit time of C). Radiocarbon-based estimates of the transit time of C in the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) suggest a change in the transit time from 6 ± 2 years and 18 ± 4 years within 2 years (October 2019 and December 2021, respectively). This variability indicates that only a fraction of newly fixed C can be stored for decades or longer.
Maximiliano González-Sosa, Carlos A. Sierra, J. Andrés Quincke, Walter E. Baethgen, Susan Trumbore, and M. Virginia Pravia
SOIL, 10, 467–486, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-467-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-467-2024, 2024
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Based on an approach that involved soil organic carbon (SOC) monitoring, radiocarbon measurement in bulk soil, and incubations from a long-term 60-year experiment, it was concluded that the avoidance of old carbon losses in the integrated crop–pasture systems is the main reason that explains their greater carbon storage capacities compared to continuous cropping. A better understanding of these processes is essential for making agronomic decisions to increase the carbon sequestration capacity.
Andrés Tangarife-Escobar, Georg Guggenberger, Xiaojuan Feng, Guohua Dai, Carolina Urbina-Malo, Mina Azizi-Rad, and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 21, 1277–1299, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1277-2024, 2024
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Soil organic matter stability depends on future temperature and precipitation scenarios. We used radiocarbon (14C) data and model predictions to understand how the transit time of carbon varies under environmental change in grasslands and peatlands. Soil moisture affected the Δ14C of peatlands, while temperature did not have any influence. Our models show the correspondence between Δ14C and transit time and could allow understanding future interactions between terrestrial and atmospheric carbon
Shane W. Stoner, Marion Schrumpf, Alison Hoyt, Carlos A. Sierra, Sebastian Doetterl, Valier Galy, and Susan Trumbore
Biogeosciences, 20, 3151–3163, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3151-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3151-2023, 2023
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Soils store more carbon (C) than any other terrestrial C reservoir, but the processes that control how much C stays in soil, and for how long, are very complex. Here, we used a recent method that involves heating soil in the lab to measure the range of C ages in soil. We found that most C in soil is decades to centuries old, while some stays for much shorter times (days to months), and some is thousands of years old. Such detail helps us to estimate how soil C may react to changing climate.
Agustín Sarquis and Carlos A. Sierra
Biogeosciences, 20, 1759–1771, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1759-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1759-2023, 2023
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Although plant litter is chemically and physically heterogenous and undergoes multiple transformations, models that represent litter dynamics often ignore this complexity. We used a multi-model inference framework to include information content in litter decomposition datasets and studied the time it takes for litter to decompose as measured by the transit time. In arid lands, the median transit time of litter is about 3 years and has a negative correlation with mean annual temperature.
Song Wang, Carlos Sierra, Yiqi Luo, Jinsong Wang, Weinan Chen, Yahai Zhang, Aizhong Ye, and Shuli Niu
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-33, 2023
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Nitrogen is important for plant growth and carbon uptake, which is uaually limited in nature and can constrain carbon storage and impact efforts to combat climate change. We developed a new method of combining data and models to determine if and how much an ecosystem is nitrogen limited. This new method can help determine if and to what extent an ecosystem is nitrogen-limited, providing insight into nutrient limitations on a global scale and guiding ecosystem management decisions.
Andrea Scheibe, Carlos A. Sierra, and Marie Spohn
Biogeosciences, 20, 827–838, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-827-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-827-2023, 2023
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We explored carbon cycling in soils in three climate zones in Chile down to a depth of 6 m, using carbon isotopes. Our results show that microbial activity several meters below the soil surface is mostly fueled by recently fixed carbon and that strong decomposition of soil organic matter only occurs in the upper decimeters of the soils. The study shows that different layers of the critical zone are tightly connected and that processes in the deep soil depend on recently fixed carbon.
Carlos A. Sierra, Verónika Ceballos-Núñez, Henrik Hartmann, David Herrera-Ramírez, and Holger Metzler
Biogeosciences, 19, 3727–3738, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3727-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3727-2022, 2022
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Empirical work that estimates the age of respired CO2 from vegetation tissue shows that it may take from years to decades to respire previously produced photosynthates. However, many ecosystem models represent respiration processes in a form that cannot reproduce these observations. In this contribution, we attempt to provide compelling evidence, based on recent research, with the aim to promote a change in the predominant paradigm implemented in ecosystem models.
Agustín Sarquis, Ignacio Andrés Siebenhart, Amy Theresa Austin, and Carlos A. Sierra
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3471–3488, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3471-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3471-2022, 2022
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Plant litter breakdown in aridlands is driven by processes different from those in more humid ecosystems. A better understanding of these processes will allow us to make better predictions of future carbon cycling. We have compiled aridec, a database of plant litter decomposition studies in aridlands and tested some modeling applications for potential users. Aridec is open for use and collaboration, and we hope it will help answer newer and more important questions as the database develops.
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Short summary
We tested how soil carbon models predict carbon storage and respiration using soil incubation data. We compared 2-pool models based on particulate and mineral-associated carbon with 3-pool models that also include faster-cycling carbon. 3-pool models performed better because they captured carbon dynamics operating at different timescales. We then simulated alternative model structures and found that transfer rates into the most persistent pool were the main control on overall carbon persistence.
We tested how soil carbon models predict carbon storage and respiration using soil incubation...
