Articles | Volume 17, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5961-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5961-2024
Model evaluation paper
 | 
09 Aug 2024
Model evaluation paper |  | 09 Aug 2024

Radiocarbon analysis reveals underestimation of soil organic carbon persistence in new-generation soil models

Alexander S. Brunmayr, Frank Hagedorn, Margaux Moreno Duborgel, Luisa I. Minich, and Heather D. Graven

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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
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Cited articles

Abramoff, R. and Xu, X.: rabramoff/Millennial: First release of Millennial V2, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.6353519, 2022. a
Abramoff, R. Z., Xu, X., Hartman, M., O'Brien, S., Feng, W., Davidson, E., Finzi, A., Moorhead, D., Schimel, J., Torn, M., and Mayes, M. A.: The Millennial model: in search of measurable pools and transformations for modeling soil carbon in the new century, Biogeochemistry, 137, 51–71, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0409-7, 2018. a
Abramoff, R. Z., Guenet, B., Zhang, H., Georgiou, K., Xu, X., Viscarra Rossel, R. A., Yuan, W., and Ciais, P.: Improved global-scale predictions of soil carbon stocks with Millennial Version 2, Soil Biol. Biochem., 164, 108466, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108466, 2022. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p
Ahrens, B., Braakhekke, M. C., Guggenberger, G., Schrumpf, M., and Reichstein, M.: Contribution of sorption, DOC transport and microbial interactions to the 14C age of a soil organic carbon profile: Insights from a calibrated process model, Soil Biol. Biochem., 88, 390–402, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.06.008, 2015. a
Ahrens, B., Guggenberger, G., Rethemeyer, J., John, S., Marschner, B., Heinze, S., Angst, G., Mueller, C. W., Kögel-Knabner, I., Leuschner, C., Hertel, D., Bachmann, J., Reichstein, M., and Schrumpf, M.: Combination of energy limitation and sorption capacity explains 14C depth gradients, Soil Biol Biochem., 148, 107912, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107912, 2020. a, b
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A new generation of soil models promises to more accurately predict the carbon cycle in soils under climate change. However, measurements of 14C (the radioactive carbon isotope) in soils reveal that the new soil models face similar problems to the traditional models: they underestimate the residence time of carbon in soils and may therefore overestimate the net uptake of CO2 by the land ecosystem. Proposed solutions include restructuring the models and calibrating model parameters with 14C data.
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