Oregon State research has revealed that moisture, not temperature or mineral content, enables soils\u2019 carbon sequestration ability.<\/h2>\n

Soil-based carbon sequestration is the second-biggest carbon storage process after carbon stored in the ocean. By pinpointing moisture as key to soils\u2019 ability to sequester large amounts of carbon, the researchers aim to improve the understanding of how the global carbon cycle might change as the climate becomes warmer and drier.<\/p>\n

The research, \u2018Moisture-driven divergence in mineral-associated soil carbon persistence<\/a>,\u2019 is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What is soil-based carbon sequestration and why is it important?<\/h3>\n

Carbon dioxide in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere can be reduced by either lowering emissions<\/a> or by taking it out of the atmosphere and storing it. As soils are comprised of broken-down plant matter<\/a>, they contain carbon that those plants took in from the atmosphere whilst they were alive.<\/p>\n

Soil-based carbon sequestration accounts for around 2,500 gigatons of stored carbon, which is approximately three times as much as in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere and quadruple the amount in every living thing on Earth combined.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarbon in soil has many functions,\u201d said Jeff Hatten, a researcher at the OSU College of Forestry and co-author of the study. \u201cIt\u2019s a major component of soil organic matter that is important to water and nutrient accessibility for plants, and it\u2019s an energy supply to diverse populations of soil organisms. Climate change may impact soil carbon and threaten these important ecosystem services, as well as soils\u2019 ability to keep carbon out of the atmosphere and mitigate climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Factors affecting soil-based carbon sequestration<\/h3>\n

According to the researchers, earlier studies had suggested that soil carbon in wet ecosystems was most vulnerable to temperature shifts, and changes in moisture were only considered to threaten soils\u2019 ability to sequester carbon in dry ecosystems.<\/p>\n