Modelling the effect of climate–substrate interactions on soil organic matter decomposition with the Jena Soil Model

Pallandt, Marleen; Schrumpf, Marion; Lange, Holger; Reichstein, Markus; Yu, Lin; Ahrens, Bernhard

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1907-2025

Articles | Volume 22, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1907-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1907-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 7

Research article

|

17 Apr 2025

Research article |

| 17 Apr 2025

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

Model code and software

Jena Soil Model (JSM v1.0; revision 1934): a microbial soil organic carbon model integrated with nitrogen and phosphorus processes (https://git.bgc-jena.mpg.de/quincy/quincy-model-releases) L. Yu et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-783-2020

A new model of the coupled carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles in the terrestrial biosphere (QUINCY v1.0; revision 1996) (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html) T. Thum et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4781-2019

Short summary

As soils warm due to climate change, soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposes faster due to increased microbial activity, given sufficient available moisture. We modelled the microbial decomposition of plant litter and residue at different depths and found that deep soil layers are more sensitive than topsoils. Warming causes SOC loss, but its extent depends on the litter type and its temperature sensitivity, which can either counteract or amplify losses. Droughts may also counteract warming-induced SOC losses.