Understanding the effects of land-disturbances on soil organic carbon (SOC) and inorganic dynamics is pivotal for global change research. Soils are one of the largest carbon pools and a small change in SOC content could therefore substantially intensify, or mitigate, current atmospheric CO2 increase.
The impact of erosion on soil aggregation and SOC dynamics differs for sites of erosion, deposition and during transport, with further influences by conservation practices. These processes redistribute large amounts of sediment and SOC in agricultural and post-fire landscapes. In the perspective of global carbon cycling, the coupling between erosion processes and the fate of SOC in these landscapes is of particular interest. However, different concepts have been proposed to evaluate the impact by erosion-induced lateral and vertical carbon fluxes. This resulted in contrasting conclusions about disturbed soils acting either as a carbon sink or source.
Soil aggregation and SOC stocks and dynamics are influenced by natural factors such as soil type, vegetation and climate variables and by anthropogenic drivers related to disturbances (land-use changes, forest fires, etc.). It is a vital scientific challenge to disentangle anthropogenic effects from natural driver’s impacts in the fate of SOC and its influence in the atmospheric CO2.
This session aims at giving an overview of the current research and state of knowledge on lateral transport of SOC and identifying the factors affecting SOC stocks and dynamics, as well as examples of sustainable conservation practices and research needs to restore, develop and maintain SOC stocks. Contributions from all areas of soil science, forestry, agronomy, ecology, hydrology and geography are invited to contribute to this session.