Biogeosciences
Biogeosciences
BG
Articles | Volume 12, issue 3
Articles | Volume 12, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-817-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-817-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 12, issue 3
Research article
 | 
10 Feb 2015
Research article |  | 10 Feb 2015

Microbial respiration per unit microbial biomass depends on litter layer carbon-to-nitrogen ratio

M. Spohn

Viewed

Total article views: 9,457 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
5,583 3,657 217 9,457 160 234
  • HTML: 5,583
  • PDF: 3,657
  • XML: 217
  • Total: 9,457
  • BibTeX: 160
  • EndNote: 234
Views and downloads (calculated since 24 Oct 2014)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 24 Oct 2014)
Latest update: 17 Nov 2025
Download
Short summary
Soil microbial respiration is a central process in the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. In this study, I tested the effect of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of soil litter layers on microbial respiration in absolute terms and per unit microbial biomass C. For this purpose, a global dataset on microbial respiration per unit microbial biomass C – termed the metabolic quotient (qCO2) – was compiled form literature data. It was found that the qCO2 in the soil litter layers was positively correlated
Read more
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint