Articles | Volume 7, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-305-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-7-305-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Continental-scale controls on soil organic carbon across sub-Saharan Africa
Sophie F. von Fromm
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for
Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland
Alison M. Hoyt
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for
Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Markus Lange
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for
Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Gifty E. Acquah
Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
Ermias Aynekulu
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Department of Live and Environmental Sciences, University of
California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
Stephan M. Haefele
Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
Steve P. McGrath
Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK
Keith D. Shepherd
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Andrew M. Sila
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Johan Six
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland
Erick K. Towett
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Susan E. Trumbore
Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for
Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Tor-G. Vågen
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Elvis Weullow
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Leigh A. Winowiecki
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
Sebastian Doetterl
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland
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Cited
64 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Predicting Environmental Covariates of Soil Organic Matter at Sub-Regional Scale for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Southeast Nigeria A. Bashie et al.
- Embracing variability in soils on smallholder farms: New tools and better science S. Snapp
- Land-use induced soil carbon stabilization at the expense of rock derived nutrients: insights from pristine Andean soils H. Jungkunst et al.
- Limited effect of organic matter addition on stabilised organic carbon in four tropical arable soils M. Van de Broek et al.
- Paleoclimate contributes to soil carbon storage in subtropical shrublands J. Ge et al.
- Soils as Carbon Stores and Sinks: Expectations, Patterns, Processes, and Prospects of Transitions M. van Noordwijk et al.
- Edaphic regulation of soil organic carbon fractions in the mattic layer across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau J. Gu et al.
- Moisture and soil depth govern relationships between soil organic carbon and oxalate-extractable metals at the global scale S. von Fromm et al.
- Estimating Ecological Characteristics and Carbon Stock in Uneven-Aged Plantations of <i>Acacia senegal</i> L. in the Savannah Woodlands of Sudan F. Awadalla Abass et al.
- Understanding extractable metal species relationships with phosphorus sorption and organic carbon in soils B. Amenkhienan et al.
- Soil extraction with pyrophosphate-dithionite mixture: a practical method to estimate organic carbon associated with metal cations and reactive mineral phases J. Fukumasu et al.
- Low but highly variable soil organic carbon stocks across deeply weathered eroding and depositional tropical landforms M. Reichenbach et al.
- A bibliometric analysis of research on remote sensing-based monitoring of soil organic matter conducted between 2003 and 2023 X. Chen et al.
- What do relationships between extractable metals and soil organic carbon concentrations mean? S. Hall & A. Thompson
- Rock weathering controls the potential for soil carbon storage at a continental scale E. Slessarev et al.
- Heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils B. Bukombe et al.
- A landscape-scale view of soil organic matter dynamics S. Doetterl et al.
- Drivers of Input and Stabilisation Control Subsoil Organic Carbon Content in Perennial Pasture Grazing Systems E. McGuinness et al.
- Enhancing soil organic carbon storage to meet the objectives of “4 per 1000 initiative” in Central and Western African ecosystems: A review L. Koutika et al.
- Oxalate-extractable aluminium is a key predictor of organic carbon content in Swedish agricultural topsoils M. Chilipamushi et al.
- Combining machine learning and environmental covariates for mapping of organic carbon in soils of Russia A. Chinilin & I. Savin
- Source quantitative identification and control for preferential contaminants in stream sediments from an abandoned lead/zinc mine J. Cao et al.
- Organic Matter, and Particularly Phosphorylated Organic Matter, Coprecipitates Very Strongly With Aluminium Y. Bruneel & M. Spohn
- Quantifying erosion rates and weathering pathways that maximize soil organic carbon storage J. Roering et al.
- One thousand soils for molecular understanding of belowground carbon cycling M. Bowman et al.
- Reply to “Beyond microbial carbon use efficiency” F. Tao et al.
- Formation of mineral-associated organic matter via rock weathering: an experimental test for the organo-metallic glue hypothesis K. Matsuoka et al.
- Identification of potential land use for carbon stock enhancement in SOC-deficient Alfisols of the sub-humid sub-tropics P. Roy & S. Sreekesh
- Soil carbon and nitrogen contents in forest soils are related to soil texture in interaction with pH and metal cations M. Spohn & J. Stendahl
- Using aridity as an overarching factor to advance understanding of soil organic carbon storage at the continental scale J. Lavallee et al.
- Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands P. Díaz-Martínez et al.
- Changes in precipitation patterns alter aggregate stability-related cations and micronutrients in a desert grassland L. Zhang et al.
- Changes in soil properties with long-term organic inputs due to distance from homestead and farm characteristics in southern Ethiopian farmlands G. Yakob et al.
- The limited effect of deforestation on stabilized subsoil organic carbon in a subtropical catchment C. Müller et al.
- Cropping Systems Mediate Carbon and Nitrogen Substrate Effects on Soil Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide Emissions Y. Li et al.
- Changes in organic carbon to clay ratios in different soils and land uses in England and Wales over time J. Prout et al.
- Evaluating DayCent and STICS in simulating the long-term impact of contrasting organic resource amendments on soil organic carbon and maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa A. Couëdel et al.
- Maize yield responses to soil organic carbon under integrated soil fertility management in tropical environments M. Laub et al.
- Mineral, molecular composition and ecosystem type jointly determine the stability of soil organic carbon on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau J. Gu et al.
- Storage and controlling factors of soil organic carbon in alpine wetlands and meadow across the Tibetan Plateau X. Nie et al.
- Major overlap in plant and soil organic carbon hotspots across Africa N. Kebonye et al.
- Divergent controls of exchangeable calcium and iron oxides in regulating soil organic carbon content across climatic gradients in arid regions Z. Wang et al.
- Controls on soil organic carbon across soil depths in tropical and temperate non-volcanic regions H. Lyu et al.
- Upscaling Soil Organic Carbon Measurements at the Continental Scale Using Multivariate Clustering Analysis and Machine Learning Z. Wang et al.
- Land use effect on soil quality and its implication to soil carbon storage in Aleta Chuko, Ethiopia Z. Shuite et al.
- Soil characteristics within vegetation patches are sensitive indicators of savanna rangeland degradation in central Namibia K. Zimmer et al.
- Acceleration of phosphorus weathering under warm climates L. Guo et al.
- Combining manure with mineral N fertilizer maintains maize yields: Evidence from four long-term experiments in Kenya M. Laub et al.
- Research Progress on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Livestock in Sub-Saharan Africa Falls Short of National Inventory Ambitions M. Graham et al.
- Carbon and nitrogen fractions are more important than bacterial composition for carbon and nitrogen mineralization considering parent material and fertilization S. Xue et al.
- Parent material geochemistry – and not plant biomass – as the key factor shaping soil organic carbon stocks in European alpine grasslands A. Maier et al.
- Amorphous aluminum hydroxide and rice-husk biochar enhance new organic carbon stabilization via different mechanisms H. Lyu et al.
- Enrichment of metastable iron minerals in global coastal wetlands H. Ma et al.
- Forest Type Regulates Soil Aggregate Stability and Soil Organic Carbon Stabilization in Subtropical Plantations X. Wei et al.
- Organo-aluminum complexation as a dominant metal control on soil carbon storage in Andisols: Global evidence across pedogenic and pH gradients M. Kida et al.
- Soil geochemistry – and not topography – as a major driver of carbon allocation, stocks, and dynamics in forests and soils of African tropical montane ecosystems B. Bukombe et al.
- Depth-Dependent Controls Over Soil Organic Carbon Stock across Chinese Shrublands J. Ge et al.
- Drivers of soil organic carbon stocks at village scale in a sub-humid region of Zimbabwe R. Nyawasha et al.
- Association of Organic Carbon With Reactive Iron Oxides Driven by Soil pH at the Global Scale C. Ye et al.
- Deciphering the impact of active aluminum and iron on soil organic carbon stabilization in volcanic and non-volcanic paddy soils of the central highlands of Madagascar T. Nishigaki et al.
- Key predictors of soil organic matter vulnerability to mineralization differ with depth at a continental scale T. Weiglein et al.
- Spatial Variability of Soil Aggregate Size Fractions Driven by Precipitation and Nitrogen Fertilizer at the Regional Scale in Southwestern China W. Zhang et al.
- A soil matrix capacity index to predict mineral-associated but not particulate organic carbon across a range of climate and soil pH A. King et al.
- Protective role of reactive aluminum phases to stabilize soil organic matter against long-term cultivation in the humid tropics under volcanic influence M. Arai et al.
64 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Predicting Environmental Covariates of Soil Organic Matter at Sub-Regional Scale for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Southeast Nigeria A. Bashie et al.
- Embracing variability in soils on smallholder farms: New tools and better science S. Snapp
- Land-use induced soil carbon stabilization at the expense of rock derived nutrients: insights from pristine Andean soils H. Jungkunst et al.
- Limited effect of organic matter addition on stabilised organic carbon in four tropical arable soils M. Van de Broek et al.
- Paleoclimate contributes to soil carbon storage in subtropical shrublands J. Ge et al.
- Soils as Carbon Stores and Sinks: Expectations, Patterns, Processes, and Prospects of Transitions M. van Noordwijk et al.
- Edaphic regulation of soil organic carbon fractions in the mattic layer across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau J. Gu et al.
- Moisture and soil depth govern relationships between soil organic carbon and oxalate-extractable metals at the global scale S. von Fromm et al.
- Estimating Ecological Characteristics and Carbon Stock in Uneven-Aged Plantations of <i>Acacia senegal</i> L. in the Savannah Woodlands of Sudan F. Awadalla Abass et al.
- Understanding extractable metal species relationships with phosphorus sorption and organic carbon in soils B. Amenkhienan et al.
- Soil extraction with pyrophosphate-dithionite mixture: a practical method to estimate organic carbon associated with metal cations and reactive mineral phases J. Fukumasu et al.
- Low but highly variable soil organic carbon stocks across deeply weathered eroding and depositional tropical landforms M. Reichenbach et al.
- A bibliometric analysis of research on remote sensing-based monitoring of soil organic matter conducted between 2003 and 2023 X. Chen et al.
- What do relationships between extractable metals and soil organic carbon concentrations mean? S. Hall & A. Thompson
- Rock weathering controls the potential for soil carbon storage at a continental scale E. Slessarev et al.
- Heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils B. Bukombe et al.
- A landscape-scale view of soil organic matter dynamics S. Doetterl et al.
- Drivers of Input and Stabilisation Control Subsoil Organic Carbon Content in Perennial Pasture Grazing Systems E. McGuinness et al.
- Enhancing soil organic carbon storage to meet the objectives of “4 per 1000 initiative” in Central and Western African ecosystems: A review L. Koutika et al.
- Oxalate-extractable aluminium is a key predictor of organic carbon content in Swedish agricultural topsoils M. Chilipamushi et al.
- Combining machine learning and environmental covariates for mapping of organic carbon in soils of Russia A. Chinilin & I. Savin
- Source quantitative identification and control for preferential contaminants in stream sediments from an abandoned lead/zinc mine J. Cao et al.
- Organic Matter, and Particularly Phosphorylated Organic Matter, Coprecipitates Very Strongly With Aluminium Y. Bruneel & M. Spohn
- Quantifying erosion rates and weathering pathways that maximize soil organic carbon storage J. Roering et al.
- One thousand soils for molecular understanding of belowground carbon cycling M. Bowman et al.
- Reply to “Beyond microbial carbon use efficiency” F. Tao et al.
- Formation of mineral-associated organic matter via rock weathering: an experimental test for the organo-metallic glue hypothesis K. Matsuoka et al.
- Identification of potential land use for carbon stock enhancement in SOC-deficient Alfisols of the sub-humid sub-tropics P. Roy & S. Sreekesh
- Soil carbon and nitrogen contents in forest soils are related to soil texture in interaction with pH and metal cations M. Spohn & J. Stendahl
- Using aridity as an overarching factor to advance understanding of soil organic carbon storage at the continental scale J. Lavallee et al.
- Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands P. Díaz-Martínez et al.
- Changes in precipitation patterns alter aggregate stability-related cations and micronutrients in a desert grassland L. Zhang et al.
- Changes in soil properties with long-term organic inputs due to distance from homestead and farm characteristics in southern Ethiopian farmlands G. Yakob et al.
- The limited effect of deforestation on stabilized subsoil organic carbon in a subtropical catchment C. Müller et al.
- Cropping Systems Mediate Carbon and Nitrogen Substrate Effects on Soil Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide Emissions Y. Li et al.
- Changes in organic carbon to clay ratios in different soils and land uses in England and Wales over time J. Prout et al.
- Evaluating DayCent and STICS in simulating the long-term impact of contrasting organic resource amendments on soil organic carbon and maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa A. Couëdel et al.
- Maize yield responses to soil organic carbon under integrated soil fertility management in tropical environments M. Laub et al.
- Mineral, molecular composition and ecosystem type jointly determine the stability of soil organic carbon on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau J. Gu et al.
- Storage and controlling factors of soil organic carbon in alpine wetlands and meadow across the Tibetan Plateau X. Nie et al.
- Major overlap in plant and soil organic carbon hotspots across Africa N. Kebonye et al.
- Divergent controls of exchangeable calcium and iron oxides in regulating soil organic carbon content across climatic gradients in arid regions Z. Wang et al.
- Controls on soil organic carbon across soil depths in tropical and temperate non-volcanic regions H. Lyu et al.
- Upscaling Soil Organic Carbon Measurements at the Continental Scale Using Multivariate Clustering Analysis and Machine Learning Z. Wang et al.
- Land use effect on soil quality and its implication to soil carbon storage in Aleta Chuko, Ethiopia Z. Shuite et al.
- Soil characteristics within vegetation patches are sensitive indicators of savanna rangeland degradation in central Namibia K. Zimmer et al.
- Acceleration of phosphorus weathering under warm climates L. Guo et al.
- Combining manure with mineral N fertilizer maintains maize yields: Evidence from four long-term experiments in Kenya M. Laub et al.
- Research Progress on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Livestock in Sub-Saharan Africa Falls Short of National Inventory Ambitions M. Graham et al.
- Carbon and nitrogen fractions are more important than bacterial composition for carbon and nitrogen mineralization considering parent material and fertilization S. Xue et al.
- Parent material geochemistry – and not plant biomass – as the key factor shaping soil organic carbon stocks in European alpine grasslands A. Maier et al.
- Amorphous aluminum hydroxide and rice-husk biochar enhance new organic carbon stabilization via different mechanisms H. Lyu et al.
- Enrichment of metastable iron minerals in global coastal wetlands H. Ma et al.
- Forest Type Regulates Soil Aggregate Stability and Soil Organic Carbon Stabilization in Subtropical Plantations X. Wei et al.
- Organo-aluminum complexation as a dominant metal control on soil carbon storage in Andisols: Global evidence across pedogenic and pH gradients M. Kida et al.
- Soil geochemistry – and not topography – as a major driver of carbon allocation, stocks, and dynamics in forests and soils of African tropical montane ecosystems B. Bukombe et al.
- Depth-Dependent Controls Over Soil Organic Carbon Stock across Chinese Shrublands J. Ge et al.
- Drivers of soil organic carbon stocks at village scale in a sub-humid region of Zimbabwe R. Nyawasha et al.
- Association of Organic Carbon With Reactive Iron Oxides Driven by Soil pH at the Global Scale C. Ye et al.
- Deciphering the impact of active aluminum and iron on soil organic carbon stabilization in volcanic and non-volcanic paddy soils of the central highlands of Madagascar T. Nishigaki et al.
- Key predictors of soil organic matter vulnerability to mineralization differ with depth at a continental scale T. Weiglein et al.
- Spatial Variability of Soil Aggregate Size Fractions Driven by Precipitation and Nitrogen Fertilizer at the Regional Scale in Southwestern China W. Zhang et al.
- A soil matrix capacity index to predict mineral-associated but not particulate organic carbon across a range of climate and soil pH A. King et al.
- Protective role of reactive aluminum phases to stabilize soil organic matter against long-term cultivation in the humid tropics under volcanic influence M. Arai et al.
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 16 May 2026
Short summary
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.
We investigated various soil and climate properties that influence soil organic carbon (SOC)...