Quantifying the upper limit of stable soil carbon storage is essential for guiding policies to increase soil carbon storage. One pool of carbon considered particularly stable across climate zones and soil types is formed when dissolved organic carbon sorbs to minerals. We quantified, for the first time, the potential of mineral soils to sorb additional dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for six soil orders. We compiled 402 laboratory sorption experiments to estimate the additional DOC sorption potential, that is the potential of excess DOC sorption in addition to the existing background level already sorbed in each soil sample. We estimated this potential using gridded climate and soil geochemical variables within a machine learning model. We find that mid- and low-latitude soils and subsoils have a greater capacity to store DOC by sorption compared to high-latitude soils and topsoils. The global additional DOC sorption potential for six soil orders is estimated to be 107 $$ pm$$ \uffc2\uffb1 13 Pg C to 1\uffc2\uffa0m depth. If this potential was realized, it would represent a 7% increase in the existing total carbon stock.Establishing parkland agroforestry on currently treeless cropland in the West African Sahel may help mitigate climate change. To evaluate its potential, we used climatically suitable ranges for parklands for 19 climate scenarios, derived by ecological niche modeling, for estimating potential carbon stocks in parkland and treeless cropland. A biocarbon business model was used to evaluate profitability of hypothetical Terrestrial Carbon Projects (TCPs), across a range of farm sizes, farm numbers, carbon prices and benefit sharing mechanisms. Using climate analogues, we explored potential climate change trajectories for selected locations. If mature parklands covered their maximum range, carbon stocks in Sahelian productive land would be about 1,284\uffc2\uffa0Tg, compared to 725\uffc2\uffa0Tg in a treeless scenario. Due to slow increase rates of total system carbon by 0.4\uffc2\uffa0Mg\uffc2\uffa0C\uffc2\uffa0ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921 a\uffe2\uff88\uff921, most TCPs at carbon prices that seem realistic today were not feasible, or required the participation of large numbers of farmers. For small farms, few TCP scenarios were feasible, and low Net Present Values for farmers made it unlikely that carbon payments would motivate many to participate in TCPs, unless additional benefits were provided. Climate analogue locations indicated an uncertain climate trajectory for the Sahel, but most scenarios projected increasing aridity and reduced suitability for parklands. The potentially severe impacts of climate change on Sahelian ecosystems and the uncertain profitability of TCPs make the Sahel highly risky for carbon investments. Given the likelihood of degrading environmental conditions, the search for appropriate adaptation strategies should take precedence over promoting mitigation activities.
", "keywords": ["Carbon sequestration", "Carbon accounting", "Atmospheric Science", "Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture", "Economics", "Profitability index", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "agroforestry", "Agricultural and Biological Sciences", "Climate change mitigation", "Range (aeronautics)", "Rangeland Degradation", "Natural resource economics", "Soil water", "11. Sustainability", "Rangeland Degradation and Pastoral Livelihoods", "Carbon fibers", "Climate change", "Business", "agriculture", "2. Zero hunger", "Global and Planetary Change", "Ecology", "Life Sciences", "Composite number", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Soil carbon", "Physical Sciences", "Composite material", "Atmospheric carbon cycle", "Management", " Monitoring", " Policy and Law", "Greenhouse gas", "Environmental science", "Global Forest Transition", "Agroforestry", "climate", "Biology", "Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Soil science", "15. Life on land", "carbon sequestration", "Materials science", "Carbon dioxide", "13. Climate action", "FOS: Biological sciences", "Environmental Science", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Drivers and Impacts of Tropical Deforestation", "Finance"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0438-0"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Climatic%20Change", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s10584-012-0438-0", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s10584-012-0438-0", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s10584-012-0438-0"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-03-28T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/ncomms15972", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-06-26", "title": "Iron-Mediated Soil Carbon Response To Water-Table Decline In An Alpine Wetland", "description": "AbstractThe tremendous reservoir of soil organic carbon (SOC) in wetlands is being threatened by water-table decline (WTD) globally. However, the SOC response to WTD remains highly uncertain. Here we examine the under-investigated role of iron (Fe) in mediating soil enzyme activity and lignin stabilization in a mesocosm WTD experiment in an alpine wetland. In contrast to the classic \uffe2\uff80\uff98enzyme latch\uffe2\uff80\uff99 theory, phenol oxidative activity is mainly controlled by ferrous iron [Fe(II)] and declines with WTD, leading to an accumulation of dissolvable aromatics and a reduced activity of hydrolytic enzyme. Furthermore, using dithionite to remove Fe oxides, we observe a significant increase of Fe-protected lignin phenols in the air-exposed soils. Fe oxidation hence acts as an \uffe2\uff80\uff98iron gate\uffe2\uff80\uff99 against the \uffe2\uff80\uff98enzyme latch\uffe2\uff80\uff99 in regulating wetland SOC dynamics under oxygen exposure. This newly recognized mechanism may be key to predicting wetland soil carbon storage with intensified WTD in a changing climate.
", "keywords": ["Composite material", "Science", "Soil Science", "Organic chemistry", "Carbon Dynamics in Peatland Ecosystems", "01 natural sciences", "Article", "Environmental science", "Agricultural and Biological Sciences", "Importance of Mangrove Ecosystems in Coastal Protection", "Soil water", "Carbon fibers", "Soil Carbon Sequestration", "Biology", "Groundwater", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Soil science", "Ecology", "Q", "Life Sciences", "Composite number", "Geology", "Mesocosm", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Soil carbon", "Materials science", "6. Clean water", "Water table", "Chemistry", "Geotechnical engineering", "13. Climate action", "FOS: Biological sciences", "Environmental Science", "Physical Sciences", "Wetland", "Environmental chemistry", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Soil Carbon Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling in Ecosystems", "Ferrous"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15972"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Nature%20Communications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/ncomms15972", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/ncomms15972", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/ncomms15972"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-06-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/s41467-017-00114-5", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-07-17", "title": "Recent increases in terrestrial carbon uptake at little cost to the water cycle", "description": "AbstractQuantifying the responses of the coupled carbon and water cycles to current global warming and rising atmospheric CO2 concentration is crucial for predicting and adapting to climate changes. Here we show that terrestrial carbon uptake (i.e. gross primary production) increased significantly from 1982 to 2011 using a combination of ground-based and remotely sensed land and atmospheric observations. Importantly, we find that the terrestrial carbon uptake increase is not accompanied by a proportional increase in water use (i.e. evapotranspiration) but is largely (about 90%) driven by increased carbon uptake per unit of water use, i.e. water use efficiency. The increased water use efficiency is positively related to rising CO2 concentration and increased canopy leaf area index, and negatively influenced by increased vapour pressure deficits. Our findings suggest that rising atmospheric CO2 concentration has caused a shift in terrestrial water economics of carbon uptake.
", "keywords": ["Atmospheric sciences", "GLOBAL-SCALE", "Climate Change and Variability Research", "02 engineering and technology", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "Terrestrial ecosystem", "Carbon fibers", "Climate change", "Terrestrial plant", "Global and Planetary Change", "CLIMATE-CHANGE", "EVAPOTRANSPIRATION", "Evapotranspiration", "Primary production", "Ecology", "Global warming", "Q", "TRANSPIRATION", "Composite number", "Geology", "Carbon cycle", "6. Clean water", "Physical Sciences", "8. Economic growth", "DIOXIDE", "Water-use efficiency", "Composite material", "Atmospheric carbon cycle", "Science", "Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere", "STOMATAL CONDUCTANCE", "0207 environmental engineering", "Article", "Environmental science", "USE EFFICIENCY", "ATMOSPHERIC CO2", "Irrigation", "Biology", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Global Forest Drought Response and Climate Change", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "15. Life on land", "TRENDS", "Materials science", "Carbon dioxide", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "FOS: Biological sciences", "Environmental Science", "Global Methane Emissions and Impacts", "VEGETATION", "Water cycle", "Climate Modeling", "Water use"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00114-5.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00114-5"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Nature%20Communications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41467-017-00114-5", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41467-017-00114-5", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41467-017-00114-5"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-07-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/s41467-022-31540-9", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:23Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-07-01", "title": "Global stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon", "description": "AbstractSoil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and carbon-climate feedbacks. Chemical and physical associations of soil carbon with minerals play a critical role in carbon storage, but the amount and global capacity for storage in this form remain unquantified. Here, we produce spatially-resolved global estimates of mineral-associated organic carbon stocks and carbon-storage capacity by analyzing 1144 globally-distributed soil profiles. We show that current stocks total 899 Pg C to a depth of 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89m in non-permafrost mineral soils. Although this constitutes 66% and 70% of soil carbon in surface and deeper layers, respectively, it is only 42% and 21% of the mineralogical capacity. Regions under agricultural management and deeper soil layers show the largest undersaturation of mineral-associated carbon. Critically, the degree of undersaturation indicates sequestration efficiency over years to decades. We show that, across 103 carbon-accrual measurements spanning management interventions globally, soils furthest from their mineralogical capacity are more effective at accruing carbon; sequestration rates average 3-times higher in soils at one tenth of their capacity compared to soils at one half of their capacity. Our findings provide insights into the world\uffe2\uff80\uff99s soils, their capacity to store carbon, and priority regions and actions for soil carbon management.Quantifying the upper limit of stable soil carbon storage is essential for guiding policies to increase soil carbon storage. One pool of carbon considered particularly stable across climate zones and soil types is formed when dissolved organic carbon sorbs to minerals. We quantified, for the first time, the potential of mineral soils to sorb additional dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for six soil orders. We compiled 402 laboratory sorption experiments to estimate the additional DOC sorption potential, that is the potential of excess DOC sorption in addition to the existing background level already sorbed in each soil sample. We estimated this potential using gridded climate and soil geochemical variables within a machine learning model. We find that mid- and low-latitude soils and subsoils have a greater capacity to store DOC by sorption compared to high-latitude soils and topsoils. The global additional DOC sorption potential for six soil orders is estimated to be 107 $$ pm$$ \uffc2\uffb1 13 Pg C to 1\uffc2\uffa0m depth. If this potential was realized, it would represent a 7% increase in the existing total carbon stock.Soil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and carbon-climate feedbacks. Chemical and physical associations of soil carbon with minerals play a critical role in carbon storage, but the amount and global capacity for storage in this form remain unquantified. Here, we produce spatially-resolved global estimates of mineral-associated organic carbon stocks and carbon-storage capacity by analyzing 1144 globally-distributed soil profiles. We show that current stocks total 899 Pg C to a depth of 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89m in non-permafrost mineral soils. Although this constitutes 66% and 70% of soil carbon in surface and deeper layers, respectively, it is only 42% and 21% of the mineralogical capacity. Regions under agricultural management and deeper soil layers show the largest undersaturation of mineral-associated carbon. Critically, the degree of undersaturation indicates sequestration efficiency over years to decades. We show that, across 103 carbon-accrual measurements spanning management interventions globally, soils furthest from their mineralogical capacity are more effective at accruing carbon; sequestration rates average 3-times higher in soils at one tenth of their capacity compared to soils at one half of their capacity. Our findings provide insights into the world\uffe2\uff80\uff99s soils, their capacity to store carbon, and priority regions and actions for soil carbon management.Quantifying the upper limit of stable soil carbon storage is essential for guiding policies to increase soil carbon storage. One pool of carbon considered particularly stable across climate zones and soil types is formed when dissolved organic carbon sorbs to minerals. We quantified, for the first time, the potential of mineral soils to sorb additional dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for six soil orders. We compiled 402 laboratory sorption experiments to estimate the additional DOC sorption potential, that is the potential of excess DOC sorption in addition to the existing background level already sorbed in each soil sample. We estimated this potential using gridded climate and soil geochemical variables within a machine learning model. We find that mid- and low-latitude soils and subsoils have a greater capacity to store DOC by sorption compared to high-latitude soils and topsoils. The global additional DOC sorption potential for six soil orders is estimated to be 107 $$ pm$$ \uffc2\uffb1 13 Pg C to 1\uffc2\uffa0m depth. If this potential was realized, it would represent a 7% increase in the existing total carbon stock.