Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Review
Nature 440, 165-173 (9 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature04514
Open Innovation Challenges
-
Protect Enzyme from In Planta Degradation
A proposal for stable expression of an enzyme in corn seed is desired.
-
Efficient Chromosome Doubling: Plant Cell Division
The Seeker is looking for an efficient chromosome doubling method in plants and in particular, metho...
- More Challenges
- Powered by:
nature jobs
Systems Biology
- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology
- Kolkata India
Postdoctoral Positions
- The University of Texas Medical Branch
- Galveston, Texas, United States
Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change
Eric A. Davidson1 & Ivan A. Janssens2
Abstract
Significantly more carbon is stored in the world's soils—including peatlands, wetlands and permafrost—than is present in the atmosphere. Disagreement exists, however, regarding the effects of climate change on global soil carbon stocks. If carbon stored belowground is transferred to the atmosphere by a warming-induced acceleration of its decomposition, a positive feedback to climate change would occur. Conversely, if increases of plant-derived carbon inputs to soils exceed increases in decomposition, the feedback would be negative. Despite much research, a consensus has not yet emerged on the temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition. Unravelling the feedback effect is particularly difficult, because the diverse soil organic compounds exhibit a wide range of kinetic properties, which determine the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of their decomposition. Moreover, several environmental constraints obscure the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of substrate decomposition, causing lower observed 'apparent' temperature sensitivity, and these constraints may, themselves, be sensitive to climate.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Global change A question of litter qualityNature News and Views (05 Nov 1998)
Environmental chemistry Browning the watersNature News and Views (16 Nov 2006)
See all 13 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Near-field optics: from subwavelength illumination to nanometric shadowingNature Biotechnology Research (01 Nov 2003)
Biogeochemistry Soil warming and organic carbon contentNature Brief Communication (14 Dec 2000)
Long-term sensitivity of soil carbon turnover to warmingNature Letters to Editor (20 Jan 2005)
See all 34 matches for Research