The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
What is recalcitrant soil organic matter?
Open accessAbstract
Environmental context. On a global scale, soils store more carbon than plants or the atmosphere. The cycling of this vast reservoir of reduced carbon is closely tied to variations in environmental conditions, but robust predictions of climate–carbon cycle feedbacks are hampered by a lack of mechanistic knowledge regarding the sensitivity of organic matter decomposition to rising temperatures. This text provides a critical discussion of the practice to conceptualise parts of soil organic matter as intrinsically resistant to decomposition or ‘recalcitrant’. Abstract. The understanding that some natural organic molecules can resist microbial decomposition because of certain molecular properties forms the basis of the biogeochemical paradigm of ‘intrinsic recalcitrance’. In this concept paper I argue that recalcitrance is an indeterminate abstraction whose semantic vagueness encumbers research on terrestrial carbon cycling. Consequently, it appears to be advantageous to view the perceived ‘inherent resistance’ to decomposition of some forms of organic matter not as a material property, but as a logistical problem constrained by (i) microbial ecology; (ii) enzyme kinetics; (iii) environmental drivers; and (iv) matrix protection. A consequence of this view would be that the frequently observed temperature sensitivity of the decomposition of organic matter must result from factors other than intrinsic molecular recalcitrance.
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Cites
Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change
Davidson, E. A., & Janssens, I. A. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature04514 · Cited by 6,919
Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: Implications for C-saturation of soils
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Dynamic Molecular Structure of Plant Biomass-Derived Black Carbon (Biochar)
Keiluweit, M., Nico, P. S., Johnson, M. G., & Kleber, M. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es9031419 · Cited by 3,230
Self-citationAntimicrobial properties of tannins
Scalbert, A. (1991) · Phytochemistry · doi:10.1016/0031-9422(91)83426-l · Cited by 2,321
Molecular structure in soil humic substances: the new view
Sutton, R., & Sposito, G. (2005) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es050778q · Cited by 1,316
Cheng, C.-H., Lehmann, J., & Engelhard, M. H. (2008) · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.01.010 · Cited by 936
How relevant is recalcitrance for the stabilization of organic matter in soils?
Marschner, B., Brodowski, S., Dreves, A., Gleixner, G., Gude, A., Grootes, P. M., Hamer, U., Heim, A., Jandl, G., Ji, R., et al. (2008) · Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science · doi:10.1002/jpln.200700049 · Cited by 743
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Stability of black carbon in soils across a climatic gradient
Cheng, C., Lehmann, J., Thies, J. E., & Burton, S. D. (2008) · Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences · doi:10.1029/2007jg000642 · Cited by 306
Charcoal in the Silurian as evidence for the earliest wildfire
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Cited by
Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property
Schmidt, M. W. I., Torn, M. S., Abiven, S., Dittmar, T., Guggenberger, G., Janssens, I. A., Kleber, M., Kögel-Knabner, I., Lehmann, J., Manning, D. A. C., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature10386 · Cited by 6,057
Self-citationCotrufo, M. F., Wallenstein, M. D., Boot, C. M., Denef, K., & Paul, E. (2013) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.12113 · Cited by 3,552
Soil enzymes in a changing environment: Current knowledge and future directions
Burns, R. G., DeForest, J. L., Marxsen, J., Sinsabaugh, R. L., Stromberger, M. E., Wallenstein, M. D., Weintraub, M. N., & Zoppini, A. (2013) · Soil Biology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.11.009 · Cited by 2,552
Conant, R. T., Ryan, M. G., Ågren, G. I., Birge, H. E., Davidson, E. A., Eliasson, P. E., Evans, S. E., Frey, S. D., Giardina, C. P., Hopkins, F. M., et al. (2011) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02496.x · Cited by 1,635
Soil organic matter turnover is governed by accessibility not recalcitrance
Dungait, J. A. J., Hopkins, D. W., Gregory, A. S., & Whitmore, A. P. (2012) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02665.x · Cited by 1,616
Metadata
- Authors
- Kleber, M.
- Venue
- Environmental Chemistry
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Published
- 2010-08-20
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 320-332
- ISSN
- 1448-2517 (ISSN-L)
- 1449-8979
- OpenAlex
- W2128817158
- Cited by
- 413
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 33.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
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