Biogeochemical models inadequately capture microscale soil carbon effects, leading to conflicting portrayals of soils as carbon sinks or sources under climate change. New models, though promising, face challenges due to scarce data and variable microscale ecosystem processes, with variations reflecting microbiome diversity, and encompassing the physiological, hydrological, as well as mineralogical characteristics of soil microhabitats shaped by past selection.

This session will present interdisciplinary insights into soil carbon dynamics, examining how microscale interactions and microbial diversity affect carbon and nutrient cycles. Topics will include empirical data integration, data synthesis, harmonization of datasets, exploration of unifying principles governing nutrient cycling and energy flows, and their responses to environmental perturbations. We will also explore model parameterization challenges, trade-offs in model complexity, optimality based models in trait selection, and hierarchical multi-model approaches for improved climate model scaling. We welcome contributions from global change experiments using time-series metagenomic data and diversity-explicit microbial models, and encourage dialogue between marine and terrestrial research communities.