The fate of soyabean photosynthetic carbon varies in Mollisols differing in organic carbon

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SummaryThe fate of photosynthetically‐fixed carbon (C) in the plant–soil–microbe continuum has received much interest because of its relevance to soil C and the global C cycle. However, information on the flow of this plant C below ground and its contribution to soil C sequestration in soils with contrasting organic C (Corg) is limited. In this study, soyabean (Glycine max L. Merr.) was grown in three Mollisols with low (1.04%), medium (2.90%) and high (5.05%) Corg, respectively. Plants were labelled with 13CO2 to trace the photosynthetic C dynamics in the plant–soil system for up to 288 hours. The total amount of net fixed 13C by plants ranged from 66 to 78 mg pot−1, and there was no difference between soils. The amount of 13C in soil organic matter (SOM) increased from 1.9 to 6.1 mg pot−1 over time in the high‐Corg soil, while it showed a non‐significant change with 2.2 mg pot−1 (on average) in the medium‐Corg soil, and decreased from 2.9 to 0.1 mg pot−1 in the low‐Corg soil. In the low‐Corg soil, the amount of 13C in soil microbes decreased markedly over time, showing a fast turnover, and had a significant correlation (P ≤ 0.01) with 13C in the SOM pool. However, such a relationship was not significant in the soil with high or medium Corg. These results indicate that most of the root‐derived C in the low‐Corg soil is degraded quickly by microbial activity, while the greater input of the photosynthetic C to SOM in the high‐ and/or medium‐Corg soil can probably be attributed to physical sorption of root‐derived C by SOM and minerals, thus protecting it against microbial decomposition.