Mapping turnover of dissolved organic carbon in global topsoil

Abstract

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the labile fraction of organic carbon, is a predominant substrate for microbes. Therefore, the turnover of DOC dominates microbial respiration in soils. We compiled a global dataset (1096 data points) of the turnover rates of DOC in 0–30 cm soil profiles and integrated the data with a machine learning algorithm to develop a global map of DOC turnover rate in global topsoil. The global DOC turnover rate in 0–30 cm soil was averaged as 0.0087 day−1, with a considerable variation among biomes. The fastest DOC turnover rate was found in tropical forests (0.0175 day−1) and the lowest in tundra (0.0036 day−1), exhibiting a declining trend from low to high latitudes. The DOC turnover rate is primarily controlled by edaphic and climate factors, as confirmed by the analyses with the structural equation model and the Mental's test. With a machine learning algorithm, we produced global maps of DOC turnover rate at a monthly scale, which were further combined with a global dataset of DOC density to produce monthly maps of carbon mineralization from DOC turnover in topsoil. The annual carbon release from DOC was estimated as 27.98 Pg C year−1 from topsoil across the globe, with the largest contribution from forest biomes, followed by pasture and grassland. Tundra released the least carbon from DOC due to its low turnover rate suppressed by low temperatures. The biome- and global-scale information of DOC turnover rate and carbon release from DOC provide a benchmark for ecosystem models to better project soil carbon dynamics and their contributions to global carbon cycling in the changing environment.