[BBC03-12] Climate and litter C/N ratio constrain soil organic carbon accumulation
キーワード：litter carbon-to-nitrogen, wetness index, annual litterfall, soil texture, soil organic carbon
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays critical roles in stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentration, but the
mechanistic controls on the amount and distribution of SOC on global scales are not well understood. In
turn, this has hampered the ability to model global C budgets and to find measures to mitigate climate
change. Here, based on the data from a large field survey campaign with 2600 plots across China’s forest
ecosystems and a global collection of published data from forested land, we find that a low litter
carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) and high wetness index (P/PET, precipitation-to-potential-
evapotranspiration ratio) are the two factors that promote SOC accumulation, with only minor
contributions of litter quantity and soil texture. The field survey data demonstrated that high plant diversity
decreased litter C/N and thus indirectly promoted SOC accumulation by increasing the litter quality.We
conclude that any changes in plant-community composition, plant-species richness and environmental
factors that can reduce the litter C/N ratio, or climatic changes that increase wetness index, may promote
SOC accumulation. The study provides a guideline for modeling the carbon cycle of various ecosystem
scales and formulates the principle for land-based actions for mitigating the rising atmospheric CO2
concentration.
mechanistic controls on the amount and distribution of SOC on global scales are not well understood. In
turn, this has hampered the ability to model global C budgets and to find measures to mitigate climate
change. Here, based on the data from a large field survey campaign with 2600 plots across China’s forest
ecosystems and a global collection of published data from forested land, we find that a low litter
carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) and high wetness index (P/PET, precipitation-to-potential-
evapotranspiration ratio) are the two factors that promote SOC accumulation, with only minor
contributions of litter quantity and soil texture. The field survey data demonstrated that high plant diversity
decreased litter C/N and thus indirectly promoted SOC accumulation by increasing the litter quality.We
conclude that any changes in plant-community composition, plant-species richness and environmental
factors that can reduce the litter C/N ratio, or climatic changes that increase wetness index, may promote
SOC accumulation. The study provides a guideline for modeling the carbon cycle of various ecosystem
scales and formulates the principle for land-based actions for mitigating the rising atmospheric CO2
concentration.