A study examining the effects of higher temperatures on soil shows that warming alone does not increase levels of carbon dioxide emitted from the soil.
A study examining the effects of higher temperatures on soil shows that warming alone does not increase levels of carbon dioxide emitted from the soil. Instead, higher temperatures combined with more added carbon – and more nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus – led to higher carbon dioxide levels released from the soil.
The findings provide another piece of the puzzle reflecting the role nature plays in the delicate balancing act between carbon storage in soil and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
Much of the carbon dioxide emissions from soil come from microbes, tiny organisms like bacteria, fungi, viruses and others, that live in soil and “breathe out” carbon dioxide – just like people.
“When things warm up, there is more plant photosynthesis, more ‘food’ for microbes to metabolize on, more activity for microbes,” said Debjani Sihi, an assistant professor with joint appointments in NC State’s Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and corresponding author of a paper describing the research.
Read More: North Carolina State University
Image: Study co-author Paul Frankson of the University of Georgia looks over the soil-warming controls. (Photo courtesy of Debjani Sihi, NC State University)
