We conducted a Carex brevicuspis leaf litter input experiment to clarify the intrinsic factors controlling litter decomposition and quantify its contribution to the soil organic carbon pool at different water levels. Our results revealed that the water level in natural wetlands influenced litter decomposition mainly by leaching and microbial activity, by extension, and affected the wetland surface carbon pool.

Water and carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere is governed by stomata: adjustable pores in the surfaces of leaves. The combined gas conductance of all the stomata in a canopy has long been estimated using an equation that is shown here to be systematically incorrect because it relies on measurements that are generally inadequate. An alternative approach is shown to be more accurate in all probable scenarios and to imply different responses of stomatal conductance to the environment.

This paper examines the question of what causes the rapid spring growth of microscopic marine algae (phytoplankton) in the ice-covered ocean surrounding Antarctica. One prominent hypothesis proposes that the melting of sea ice is the primary cause, while our results suggest that this is only part of the explanation. In particular, we show that phytoplankton are able to start growing before the sea ice melts appreciably, much earlier than previously thought.

Drought and heat events affect the uptake and sequestration of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. We study the impact of droughts and heatwaves on the uptake of CO₂ of different vegetation types at the global scale. We find that agricultural areas are generally strongly affected. Forests instead are not particularly sensitive to the events under scrutiny. This implies different water management strategies of forests but also a lack of sensitivity to remote-sensing-derived vegetation activity.

Carbonate weathering is essential in regulating carbon cycle at the century timescale. Plant roots accelerate weathering by elevating soil CO₂ via respiration. It however remains poorly understood how and how much rooting characteristics modify flow paths and weathering. This work indicates that deepening roots in woodlands can enhance carbonate weathering by promoting recharge and CO₂–carbonate contact in the deep, carbonate-abundant subsurface.

A large part of Earth's land surface is covered by dryland ecosystems, which are subject to climate extremes that are projected to increase under future climate scenarios. By using a mathematical vegetation model, we studied the impact of single years of extreme rainfall on the vegetation in the Sahel. We found a contrasting response of grasses and trees to these extremes, strongly dependent on the way precipitation is spread over the rainy season, as well as a long-term impact on CO₂ uptake.

We evaluated the performance of three methods for representing vegetation cover. Remote sensing provided the best match to a reference dataset, closely followed by distribution modelling (DM), whereas the dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) in CLM4.5BGCDV deviated strongly from the reference. Sensitivity tests show that use of threshold values for predictors identified by DM may improve DGVM performance. The results highlight the potential of using DM in the development of DGVMs.

Few studies have focused on the particle-attached (PA) and free-living (FL) microbes of the deep ocean. Here we determined PA and FL microbial communities along depth profiles of the SCS. PA and FL fractions accommodated divergent microbial compositions, and most of them are potentially generalists with PA and FL dual lifestyles. A potential vertical connectivity between surface-specific microbes and those in the deep ocean was indicated, likely through microbial attachment to sinking particles.

Ammonia is a key water and air pollutant and impacts human health and climate change. Ammonia emissions mainly originate from agriculture. We find that chicken agriculture contributes to large ammonia emissions, especially in hot and wet regions. These emissions can be greatly affected by the local environment, i.e. temperature and humidity, and also by human management. We develop a model that suggests ammonia emissions from chicken farming are likely to increase under a warming climate.

Ultrasonication/density fractionation is a common method used to extract particulate organic matter (POM) and, recently, microplastic (MP) from soil samples. In this study, ultrasonic treatment with mechanical stress increasing from 0 to 500 J  mL⁻¹ caused comminution and a reduced recovery rate of soil-derived POMs but no such effects with MP particles. In consequence, the extraction of MP from soils is not affected by particle size and recovery rate artifacts.

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy involving soil amendments with silicate rock dust. Over 15 years, a small silicate application led to net CDR of 8.5–11.5 t CO₂/ha in an acid-rain-impacted New Hampshire forest. We accounted for the total carbon cost of treatment and compared effects with an adjacent, untreated forest. Our results suggest ERW can improve the greenhouse gas balance of similar forests in addition to mitigating acid rain effects.

Understanding controls on the persistence of organic matter in soils is essential to constrain its role in the carbon cycle. Emerging concepts suggest that the soil carbon pool is predominantly comprised of stabilized microbial residues. To test this hypothesis we isolated microbial membrane lipids from two Swiss soil profiles and measured their radiocarbon age. We find that the ages of these compounds are in the range of millenia and thus provide evidence for stabilized microbial mass in soils.

In changing climate, tundra is expected to turn into shrubs and trees, diminishing reindeer pasture and increasing risks of tick-borne diseases. However, this transition may require a disturbance. Fires in Siberia are increasingly widespread. We studied wildfire dynamics and tundra–forest transition over 60 years in northwest Siberia near the Arctic Circle. Based on satellite data analysis, we found that transition occurs in 40 %–85 % of burned tundra compared to 5 %–15 % in non-disturbed areas.

A global model is constrained with empirical relationships to quantify how shifts in sinking-particle sizes modulate particulate organic carbon export production changes in a warming ocean. Including the effect of dynamic particle sizes on remineralization reduces the magnitude of predicted 100-year changes in export production by ~14 %. Projections of future export could thus be improved by considering dynamic phytoplankton and particle-size-dependent remineralization depths.

Using a regional Southern Ocean ecosystem model, we find that the relative importance of Phaeocystis and diatoms at high latitudes is controlled by iron and temperature variability, with light levels controlling the seasonal succession in coastal areas. Yet, biomass losses via aggregation and grazing matter as well. We show that the seasonal succession of Phaeocystis and diatoms impacts the seasonality of carbon export fluxes with ramifications for nutrient cycling and food web dynamics.

Forest fires have a significant impact on carbon dioxide emissions. The present study from a pine forest in Portugal is one of the few where measurements of CO₂ fluxes were started immediately (1.5 months) after the forest fire. Carbon dioxide emissions were linked to soil humidity. Therefore, they started after the beginning of the rainfall in autumn. Due to the beginning of vegetation, the site was already a carbon dioxide sink the following year.

Using a Lagrangian modeling approach, this study provides a quantitative analysis of water and nitrogen offshore transport in the Canary Current System. We investigate the timescales, reach and structure of offshore transport and demonstrate that the Canary upwelling is a key source of nutrients to the open North Atlantic Ocean. Our findings stress the need for improving the representation of the Canary system and other eastern boundary upwelling systems in global coarse-resolution models.

Marine microorganisms such as foraminifera are able to live temporarily without oxygen in sediments. In a Swedish fjord subjected to seasonal oxygen scarcity, a change in fauna linked to the decrease in oxygen and the increase in an invasive species was shown. The invasive species respire nitrate until 100 % of the nitrate porewater in the sediment and could be a major contributor to nitrogen balance in oxic coastal ecosystems. But prolonged hypoxia creates unfavorable conditions to survive.