2024-08-21 09:45:54
Recent research shows that the loss of organic carbon in the soils of arid ecosystems, as a result of a rise in temperature and a decrease in precipitation, is faster than expected.
The study is the work of an international team led by the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ICA), which depends on the High Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in Spain. Research staff from six CSIC centers participated in the study, including the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS), the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA), the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), the Galicia Biological Mission (MBG) and the Institute of Ecology of the Pyrenees (IPE).
For the study, the team, led by Paloma Díaz-Martínez of the ICA, investigated arid areas in all parts of the world, except Antarctica.
The results of the study show that organic carbon in soils in arid areas may be more vulnerable than thought to global climate change. They also suggest that current global warming and increased humidity could lead to unexpected losses of carbon stored in the soils of arid ecosystems around the world and generate more carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. into the atmosphere.
“Our study shows that temperature increases and precipitation decreases predicted for many arid regions around the world will reduce the amount of soil organic carbon, which is essential for maintaining soil biodiversity and fertility,” says Manuel Delgado, IRNAS researcher and co-author the IRNAS on the study information.
Most of the carbon in arid areas is tied up in soil minerals. These minerals were believed to act as a protective coating on soil carbon. However, this new study shows that even carbon minerals cannot be protected from arid areas. Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez, professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) in Spain and co-author of the study, explains that “organic carbon associated with minerals constitutes a very important fraction of global soil carbon, qualitatively and quantitatively, and it has been accepted “less sensitive to climate than other fractions due to the protection of the minerals.” Until now, “the response of mineral-related organic carbon to climate change in arid zones has not been assessed, despite its importance for long-term carbon storage,” the scientist points out.
An arid area located in North America. (Photo: Manuel Delgado Baquerizo)
“In this study, we analyzed the organic carbon fractions of soil samples from arid ecosystems taken in a standardized way and from all continents, except Antarctica,” says Fernando T. Maestre, professor at the Rey University of Science and Technology from Abdullah Saudi Arabia, who designed and coordinated the global sampling.
Analysis of the data showed that biogeochemistry explains most of the variation in soil organic carbon in arid zones, between protected and unprotected minerals, and that both fractions decrease equally with increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation.
“These results indicate that the potential of mineral protection to maintain the carbon stored in the soils of arid areas against continued global warming may be quite limited,” César Plaza, researcher and director of the Institute, points out. Agricultural Sciences of the CSIC. and co-author of the study. “This could mean more CO2 emissions into the atmosphere than expected and the loss of essential ecosystem services that depend heavily on organic carbon,” the researcher concludes.
The study is titled “Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands.” And it is published in the academic journal Nature Climate Change. (Source: CSIC)
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