ArticleNature communications2025
Unprotected carbon dominates decadal soil carbon increase.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Contrasting Effects of Nitrogen Input on Soil Carbon Pools in Arid and Humid Climates.Global change biology · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- National Evidence of Depth-Dependent Stabilization and Controls of Soil Organic Carbon in Dryland Croplands.Global change biology · 2026Article
- The Fragile Sink: Reconceptualizing Soil Carbon Stabilization and Its Vulnerability Under Global Change.Global change biology · 2026Review
- Global Change Impacts on Mineral-Associated Organic Matter: Consequences for Soil Carbon Persistence.Global change biology · 2026Review
- Impact of long-term straw and manure incorporation on carbon sequestration and yield through alteration of aluminum and iron oxides in acidic red soil.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unravelling depth-dependent pedoclimatic controls on measurable soil organic carbon fractions across climatic gradients in Australian agricultural soils.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Integrated strategies for enhancing agrifood productivity, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and improving soil health.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2025Review
- Tillage legacy, grasses and soil texture shape soil organic carbon recovery in semi-arid woodland.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Changes in the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions - particulate organic carbon (POC; unprotected carbon) vs. mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC; protected carbon) - affect SOC storage and stability. Here, we compile a SOC fraction dataset from 7219 soil samples across six continents. From 2000 to 2022, POC increases by 21.8% while MAOC decreases by 5.3%, leading to a net gain of 11.0% in SOC storage and a 29.1% increase in the POC/MAOC ratio. However, relative to undisturbed natural ecosystems, SOC declines in planted forests, grazed grasslands, and croplands with management practices such as heavy grazing and conventional tillage, primarily due to rapid declines in POC. Our results highlight that the global increase in SOC is mainly driven by POC, but warn of decreasing SOC stability associated with climate change and human activities. Thus, maintaining soil carbon sinks requires targeted strategies focusing on POC.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.