Abstract
Aims
Aboveground plant litter inputs are important sources of soil carbon (C). We aimed to establish how experimentally altered litter inputs affect soil C to 1-m depth across different ecosystems, and over different timeframes.
Methods
We performed a meta-analysis of 237 studies across 248 sites worldwide to assess the influence of treatment magnitude, treatment duration, initial soil C content, and climate on the response of soil C to altered aboveground litter inputs.
Results
Overall, soil C content was lower under litter removal, but higher under litter addition compared to controls. The effects of litter manipulation were apparent throughout the soil profile and were related to treatment magnitude. Soil C content declined markedly with increasing duration of litter removal, whereas the positive effect of litter addition attenuated over time. Cropland management practices (bare fallow or additional straw incorporation) had similar effects on soil C to litter removal and addition treatments.
Conclusions
Our study reveals rapid and consistent changes in soil C content with altered litter inputs and provides important insights into plant residue management to enhance soil C sequestration. We highlight the need for long-term experiments, with a greater focus on the processes underpinning soil C storage in different ecosystems.
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Data availability
The data set used for the meta-analysis will be made available after acceptance.
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Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31901135, U1612442 and 41922056), Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Y201965), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (Grant no. 2020A1515011257), the Science and Technology Foundation of Guangdong, China (2017BT01Z176), and the GDAS’ Project of Science and Technology Development (2019GDASYL-0301002). NE acknowledges support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG–FZT 118, 202548816).
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CSL and SX designed this study. SX searched the papers, collected and analyzed the data. SX and EJS wrote the paper. All authors contributed to interpretation and commented on the details of the manuscript drafts.
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Xu, S., Sayer, E.J., Eisenhauer, N. et al. Aboveground litter inputs determine carbon storage across soil profiles: a meta-analysis. Plant Soil 462, 429–444 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04881-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04881-5