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UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-WYNQDN@pretalx.earthmonitor.org
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T163000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T164500
DESCRIPTION:Soil organic matter (SOM) underpins soil health and climate mit
 igation\, yet its internal dynamics remain difficult to assess at scale. I
 n particular\, partitioning soil organic carbon (SOC) into particulate (PO
 C) and mineral-associated (MAOC) fractions\, key to understanding carbon p
 ersistence\, is analytically demanding and rarely available in monitoring 
 programmes. Here\, we propose a simple but powerful alternative: the fract
 ion of SOC in SOM (foc).\n\nWe synthesised 14 datasets comprising 9\,503 s
 oil observations across Europe and globally\, spanning mineral and organic
  soils\, croplands\, grasslands\, woodlands\, peatlands\, permafrost regio
 ns\, and seagrass habitats. Across this diverse gradient\, foc was remarka
 bly constrained (0.38–0.58)\, consistent with the carbon content of plan
 t inputs and processed organic matter\, and a consistent linear relationsh
 ip between SOC and SOM (mean slope ≈0.54).\n\nCrucially\, foc varied sys
 tematically with habitat and soil category\, forming a clear ecological an
 d biogeochemical gradient. Lowest values occurred in permafrost and marine
  sediments\, intermediate values in croplands and grasslands\, and highest
  values in semi-natural and woody systems. Organic soils showed higher foc
  values than mineral soils\, reflecting advanced decomposition and increas
 ed carbon density.\n\nLinking this indicator to soil functioning\, we demo
 nstrate that foc correlates with SOM fractions: higher foc values align wi
 th increased particulate organic carbon (POC)\, supporting its interpretat
 ion as a proxy for decomposition state and carbon stabilization pathways. 
 This provides a practical route to infer POC and MAOC distributions withou
 t costly fractionation analyses.\n\nOur findings position foc as a scalabl
 e\, process-informed indicator of soil organic carbon dynamics that integr
 ates biological inputs\, decomposition\, and physical protection mechanism
 s. Because it can be derived from routine measurements of SOC and SOM\, fo
 c has immediate applicability for national soil monitoring\, land-use plan
 ning\, and evaluation of soil carbon policies.
DTSTAMP:20260825T175951Z
LOCATION:Amphitheater I
SUMMARY:The fraction of carbon in soil organic matter as a national-scale s
 oil process indicator - Sabine Reinsch
URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/WYNQDN/
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