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Soil carbon pools and dynamics

Project team: Anna Favaro (University of Sydney); Feike Dijkstra (University of Sydney), Paola Pisetta Raupp (Western Sydney University), Yolima Carrillo (Western Sydney University)

Project period: 2024 – ongoing

You can find contacts to the Western Sydney University members of the project here

Summary

Understanding the drivers and mechanisms underpinning the carbon dynamics, including its formation, accumulation, decomposition, and priming.  I mostly focus on the measurement of C pools (MAOM and POM) and their nutrient contents (i.e., stoichiometric ratios). As a part of one of my studies, I’ve also measured root biomass and root morphological traits and conducted a vegetation assessment of the understorey plant community. 

The first paper was a comparison between data from June 2012 and data from June 2024; the second paper consists of measurements/observation take/made in January, June, and September 2025.

Overall, my research at EucFACE has focused/focuses on understanding the drivers and mechanisms underpinning the C dynamics, including its formation, accumulation, decomposition, and priming.

Findings so far: Main finding paper 1 (published): 12 years of eCO2 caused significant decreases in MAOM-total C, MAOM-organic N, and MAOM-organic P compared to ambient aCO2, but no effects on C, organic N, and organic P in POM. This suggests that the increased belowground C inputs under eCO2, in combination with low soil P availability, triggered a rhizosphere priming effect on the MAOM pool.

Main finding paper 2 (on the way): eCO2 caused significant decreases in MAOM-C and POM-C formation. Although CO2 did not cause significant changes in root biomass and root morphological traits, root parameters were associated with MAOM-C and POM-C formation. We explain the decrease in MAOM-C formation under eCO2 by a shift from a direct sorption pathway towards a less efficient in vivo microbial turnover pathway, whereby C is lost through microbial decomposition before microbial residues contribute to MAOM-C formation. 

Publications

One manuscript has been published, and the second one is on the way (almost finalised, and I hope to submit to a journal by the end of February).

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