DOE OSTI · 2565565
Soil Carbon Saturation: What Do We Really Know?
Abstract
Managing soils to increase organic carbon storage presents a potential opportunity to mitigate and adapt to global change challenges, while providing numerous co-benefits and ecosystem services. However, soils differ widely in their potential for carbon sequestration, and knowledge of biophysical limits to carbon accumulation may aid in informing priority regions. Consequently, there is great interest in assessing whether soils exhibit a maximum capacity for storing organic carbon, particularly within organo–mineral associations given the finite nature of reactive minerals in a soil. While the concept of soil carbon saturation has existed for over 25 years, recent studies have argued for and against its importance. Here, we summarize the conceptual understanding of soil carbon saturation at both micro- and macro-scales, define key terminology, and address common concerns and misconceptions. We review methods used to quantify soil carbon saturation, highlighting the theory and potential caveats of each approach. Critically, we explore the utility of the principles of soil carbon saturation for informing carbon accumulation, vulnerability to loss, and representations in process-based models. We highlight key knowledge gaps and propose next steps for furthering our mechanistic understanding of soil carbon saturation and its implications for soil management.
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Georgiou, Katerina [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228193292), Angers, Denis [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Quebec City, QC (Canada)] (ORCID:000000020473527X), Champiny, Ryan E. [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000303044845), Cotrufo, M. Francesca [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000261918953), Craig, Matthew E. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000288907920), Doetterl, Sebastian [Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich (Switzerland)] (ORCID:000000020986891X), Grandy, A. Stuart [Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)], Lavallee, Jocelyn M. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000230287087), Lin, Yang [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000179230789), Lugato, Emanuele [European Commission, Ispra (Italy). Joint Research Centre] (ORCID:000000028947352X), Poeplau, Christopher [Thunen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000331088810), Rocci, Katherine S. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000342356833), Schweizer, Steffen A. [Technical Univ. of Munich, Freising-Weihenstephan (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000294891005), Six, Johan [Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000193364185), Wieder, William R. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000171161985). 2025-05-09. Soil Carbon Saturation: What Do We Really Know?. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70197
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