Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa
Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Wiley
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173518 |
| _version_ | 1855516902759071744 |
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| author | von Fromm, Sophie F. Doetterl, Sebastian Butler, Benjamin M. Aynekulu, Ermias Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw Haefele, Stephan M. McGrath, Steve P. Shepherd, Keith D. Six, Johan Tamene, Lulseged Tondoh, Ebagnerin J. Vågen, Tor‐Gunnar Winowiecki, Leigh A. Trumbore, Susan E. Hoyt, Alison M. |
| author_browse | Aynekulu, Ermias Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw Butler, Benjamin M. Doetterl, Sebastian Haefele, Stephan M. Hoyt, Alison M. McGrath, Steve P. Shepherd, Keith D. Six, Johan Tamene, Lulseged Tondoh, Ebagnerin J. Trumbore, Susan E. Vågen, Tor‐Gunnar Winowiecki, Leigh A. von Fromm, Sophie F. |
| author_facet | von Fromm, Sophie F. Doetterl, Sebastian Butler, Benjamin M. Aynekulu, Ermias Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw Haefele, Stephan M. McGrath, Steve P. Shepherd, Keith D. Six, Johan Tamene, Lulseged Tondoh, Ebagnerin J. Vågen, Tor‐Gunnar Winowiecki, Leigh A. Trumbore, Susan E. Hoyt, Alison M. |
| author_sort | von Fromm, Sophie F. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine‐scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub‐Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad‐scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub‐Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub‐Saharan Africa suggest that a process‐oriented grouping of soils based on pedo‐climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace173518 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1735182025-11-11T17:42:32Z Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa von Fromm, Sophie F. Doetterl, Sebastian Butler, Benjamin M. Aynekulu, Ermias Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw Haefele, Stephan M. McGrath, Steve P. Shepherd, Keith D. Six, Johan Tamene, Lulseged Tondoh, Ebagnerin J. Vågen, Tor‐Gunnar Winowiecki, Leigh A. Trumbore, Susan E. Hoyt, Alison M. soil organic carbon climate change soil climatic zones carbon cycle clay minerals Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine‐scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub‐Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad‐scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub‐Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub‐Saharan Africa suggest that a process‐oriented grouping of soils based on pedo‐climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales. 2024-01 2025-03-09T16:19:49Z 2025-03-09T16:19:49Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173518 en Open Access application/pdf Wiley von Fromm, S.F.; Doetterl, S.; Butler, B.M.; Aynekulu, E.; Berhe, A.A.; Haefele, S.M.; McGrath, S.; Shepherd, K.D.; Six, J.; Tamene, L.; Tondoh, E.J.; Vågen, T.; Winowiecki, L.A.; Trumbore, S.; Hoyt, A.M. (2024) Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa. Global Change Biology 30(1): e17089. ISSN: 1354-1013 |
| spellingShingle | soil organic carbon climate change soil climatic zones carbon cycle clay minerals von Fromm, Sophie F. Doetterl, Sebastian Butler, Benjamin M. Aynekulu, Ermias Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw Haefele, Stephan M. McGrath, Steve P. Shepherd, Keith D. Six, Johan Tamene, Lulseged Tondoh, Ebagnerin J. Vågen, Tor‐Gunnar Winowiecki, Leigh A. Trumbore, Susan E. Hoyt, Alison M. Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title | Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub‐Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub saharan africa |
| topic | soil organic carbon climate change soil climatic zones carbon cycle clay minerals |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173518 |
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