Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1427-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1427-2025
Research article
 | 
17 Mar 2025
Research article |  | 17 Mar 2025

A microbially driven and depth-explicit soil organic carbon model constrained by carbon isotopes to reduce parameter equifinality

Marijn Van de Broek, Gerard Govers, Marion Schrumpf, and Johan Six

Related authors

Depth effects of long-term organic residue application on soil organic carbon stocks in central Kenya
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Daniel Mugendi Njiru, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Marijn Van de Broek
Biogeosciences, 22, 2733–2747, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2733-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2733-2025, 2025
Short summary
Limited effect of organic matter addition on stabilised organic carbon in four tropical arable soils
Marijn Van de Broek, Fiona Stewart-Smith, Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Wycliffe Waswa, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2287,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2287, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
Short summary
Modeling integrated soil fertility management for maize production in Kenya using a Bayesian calibration of the DayCent model
Moritz Laub, Magdalena Necpalova, Marijn Van de Broek, Marc Corbeels, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Rebecca Yegon, Wycliffe Waswa, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six
Biogeosciences, 21, 3691–3716, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3691-2024, 2024
Short summary
The limited effect of deforestation on stabilized subsoil organic carbon in a subtropical catchment
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Liesa Brosens, Philipp Baumann, Jean Paolo Gomes Minella, Gerard Govers, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 349–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-349-2024, 2024
Short summary
The six rights of how and when to test for soil C saturation
Johan Six, Sebastian Doetterl, Moritz Laub, Claude R. Müller, and Marijn Van de Broek
SOIL, 10, 275–279, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-275-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Soils
Distinct changes in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling in the litter layer across two contrasting forest–tundra ecotones
Frank Hagedorn, Josephine Imboden, Pavel A. Moiseev, Decai Gao, Emmanuel Frossard, Patrick Schleppi, Daniel Christen, Konstantin Gavazov, and Jasmin Fetzer
Biogeosciences, 22, 2959–2977, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2959-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2959-2025, 2025
Short summary
Effects of basalt, concrete fines, and steel slag on maize growth and toxic trace element accumulation in an enhanced weathering experiment
Jet Rijnders, Arthur Vienne, and Sara Vicca
Biogeosciences, 22, 2803–2829, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2803-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2803-2025, 2025
Short summary
Depth effects of long-term organic residue application on soil organic carbon stocks in central Kenya
Claude Raoul Müller, Johan Six, Daniel Mugendi Njiru, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Marijn Van de Broek
Biogeosciences, 22, 2733–2747, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2733-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2733-2025, 2025
Short summary
Validating laboratory predictions of soil rewetting respiration pulses using field data
Xiankun Li, Marleen Pallandt, Dilip Naidu, Johannes Rousk, Gustaf Hugelius, and Stefano Manzoni
Biogeosciences, 22, 2691–2705, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2691-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2691-2025, 2025
Short summary
Modelling the effect of climate–substrate interactions on soil organic matter decomposition with the Jena Soil Model
Marleen Pallandt, Marion Schrumpf, Holger Lange, Markus Reichstein, Lin Yu, and Bernhard Ahrens
Biogeosciences, 22, 1907–1928, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1907-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1907-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Ahrens, B., Braakhekke, M. C., Guggenberger, G., Schrumpf, M., and Reichstein, M.: Contribution of sorption, DOC transport and microbial interactions to the 14C age of a soil organic carbon profile: Insights from a calibrated process model, Soil Biol. Biochem., 88, 390–402, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.06.008, 2015. a, b
Ahrens, B., Guggenberger, G., Rethemeyer, J., John, S., Marschner, B., Heinze, S., Angst, G., Mueller, C. W., Kögel-Knabner, I., Leuschner, C., Hertel, D., Bachmann, J., Reichstein, M., and Schrumpf, M.: Combination of energy limitation and sorption capacity explains 14C depth gradients, Soil Biol. Biochem., 148, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107912, 2020. a, b, c
Akinyede, R., Taubert, M., Schrumpf, M., Trumbore, S., and Küsel, K.: Rates of dark CO2 fixation are driven by microbial biomass in a temperate forest soil, Soil Biol. Biochem., 150, 107950, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107950, 2020. a, b, c
Akinyede, R., Taubert, M., Schrumpf, M., Trumbore, S., and Küsel, K.: Dark CO2 fixation in temperate beech and pine forest soils, Soil Biol. Biochem., 165, 108526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108526, 2022. a
Amundson, R. and Baisden, W. T.: Stable Isotope Tracers and Mathematical Models in Soil Organic Matter Studies, in: Methods in Ecosystem Science, edited by: Sala, O. E., Jackson, R. B., Mooney, H. A., and Howarth, R. W., Springer, New York, NY, 117–137, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1224-9_9, 2000. a
Download
Short summary
Soil organic carbon models are used to predict how soils affect the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. We show that equifinality – the phenomenon that different parameter values lead to correct overall model outputs, albeit with a different model behaviour – is an important source of model uncertainty. Our results imply that adding more complexity to soil organic carbon models is unlikely to lead to better predictions as long as more data to constrain model parameters are not available.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint