Dear authors,
Based on the referee comments and the subsequent discussion, I would like to invite you to prepare and upload a revised version of the manuscript. In addition to addressing the main comments of the referees the revision should address the following:
- Ensure that the knowledge gain in biogeochemical processes is stressed throughout the manuscript.
- Given the criticism of both referees on section 5.3 of the discussion, the discussion should be balanced towards biogeochemical processes.
- Other model approaches (ORCHIDEE, JULES, ...) should not simply be mentioned in the manuscript but the key differences between those approaches and yours should be listed. The readers will want to understand what makes your approach unique.

The authors seem to confuse the discussion and revision phases which make the EGU journals unique. Please, carefully read the instructions for authors next time you submit to an EGU journal. Also, the formatting of your replies to the referees make it very difficult to separate the referee comments from the author's discussion.

Looking forward to receiving a revised manuscript,

Dear Authors,
In the light of the positive assessment of the revised manuscript by the referee, I'm happy to offer publication of your manuscript in Biogeosciences. Note that this offer is conditional on revising the minor issues noted by the referee. Also, I agree with the referee that especially the discussion should be edited to further enhance its readability.
Looking forward to the revised manuscript,
Sebastiaan Luyssaert