Articles | Volume 17, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2605-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2605-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Mapping global distributions, environmental controls, and uncertainties of apparent topsoil and subsoil organic carbon turnover times
Lei Zhang
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Climate and Ecosystem Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Thomas W. Crowther
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zurich, Switzerland
Constantin M. Zohner
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zurich, Switzerland
Sebastian Doetterl
Soil Resources Group, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
Gerard B. M. Heuvelink
Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
ISRIC – World Soil Information, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Alexandre M. J.-C. Wadoux
LISAH, Univ. Montpellier, AgroParisTech, INRAE, IRD, L'Institut Agro, Montpellier, France
A.-Xing Zhu
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Yue Pu
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Feixue Shen
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Haozhi Ma
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Yibiao Zou
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zurich, Switzerland
Chenghu Zhou
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Cited
7 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Spatial patterns and drivers of SOC and its labile fractions in China's croplands J. Kang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2026.107192
- Emergy-based equivalence assessment framework for wetland ecosystem service to empower decision-making: Empirical insights from Yellow River Delta, China C. Hao et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2026.108546
- Modelling long-term soil organic carbon sequestration under varying environmental drivers and internal protection mechanisms – towards a digital twin W. van der Meij & P. Finke https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-165-2026
- Regional-scale soil carbon predictions can be enhanced by transferring global-scale soil–environment relationships L. Zhang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117466
- Persistence and turnover of soil organic carbon in global drylands H. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70623-9
- Anthropogenic disturbance decouples coastal soil organic carbon and bulk density F. Shen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2026.100728
- Deep Soil as a Critical Nutrient Reservoir: Different C–N–P Stoichiometry and Drivers Between Surface and Subsoil in the Loess Plateau, China Y. Guo et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020259
7 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Spatial patterns and drivers of SOC and its labile fractions in China's croplands J. Kang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2026.107192
- Emergy-based equivalence assessment framework for wetland ecosystem service to empower decision-making: Empirical insights from Yellow River Delta, China C. Hao et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2026.108546
- Modelling long-term soil organic carbon sequestration under varying environmental drivers and internal protection mechanisms – towards a digital twin W. van der Meij & P. Finke https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-165-2026
- Regional-scale soil carbon predictions can be enhanced by transferring global-scale soil–environment relationships L. Zhang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117466
- Persistence and turnover of soil organic carbon in global drylands H. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70623-9
- Anthropogenic disturbance decouples coastal soil organic carbon and bulk density F. Shen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2026.100728
- Deep Soil as a Critical Nutrient Reservoir: Different C–N–P Stoichiometry and Drivers Between Surface and Subsoil in the Loess Plateau, China Y. Guo et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020259
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 07 Jul 2026
Short summary
Current understandings of depth-dependent variations and controls of soil organic carbon turnover time (τ) at global, biome, and local scales remain incomplete. We used the state-of-the-art soil and root profile databases and satellite observations to generate new spatially explicit global maps of topsoil and subsoil τ, with quantified uncertainties for better user applications. The new insights from the resulting maps will facilitate efforts to model the carbon cycle and will support effective carbon management.
Current understandings of depth-dependent variations and controls of soil organic carbon...
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