Cross-section of study site near Georgetown, CA. Over half of the world’s soil carbon is stored below 20 degrees cm, making deep soil a large potential emitter of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Credit: J. Bryan Curtis
In a recent Dartmouth College study, researchers tested how decomposition changes with soil depth to help predict whether deep soil carbon would be vulnerable to climate-induced changes.
“Deep soil carbon is a really big deal for understanding the future of climate change,” said Caitlin Hicks Pries, an assistant professor of biology at Dartmouth.
Related Journal Article
Caitlin E. Hicks Pries et al, Root litter decomposition slows with soil depth, Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.07.002