Dear authors:
I have now read through the reviewers' comments and your response to them. Apparently, you have made already quite some efforts to incorporate the reviewers' suggestion in a new version of the manuscript. I want to particularly point out to focus on the comments on reviewer#2 concerning the statistical analyses. Thus, please go through the reviewers comments again and cross check the revised version to ensure that all the comments are properly addressed in the revised version of the paper.
Best wishes, Gerhard Herndl

Dear authors:
I have now read through your response to the reviewers' comment and the revised version of the manuscript. I found that the comments of the reviewers have been adequately addressed in the revised version. Hence, I appreciate being able to inform you that the manuscript is now accepted for publication in Biogeosciences.
Thanks for choosing Biogeosciences as an outlet of your interesting research.
Best wishes, Gerhard Herndl