Microbial necromass contribution to topsoil organic carbon storage of natural and agricultural ecosystems

Lu, Jing-Li; Crowther, Thomas W.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Liu, Wenjie; Jiang, Yamin; Sun, Hongyang; Wang, Zhiqiang

doi:10.5194/essd-18-3697-2026

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3697-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3697-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

Data description article

|

02 Jun 2026

Data description article |

| 02 Jun 2026

Microbial necromass contribution to topsoil organic carbon storage of natural and agricultural ecosystems

Jing-Li Lu, Thomas W. Crowther, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Wenjie Liu, Yamin Jiang, Hongyang Sun, and Zhiqiang Wang

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3697-2026-supplement

Data sets

Microbial necromass contribution to topsoil organic carbon storage of natural and agricultural ecosystems Jingli Lu https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28827383

Model code and software

Microbial necromass contribution to topsoil organic carbon storage of natural and agricultural ecosystems Jingli Lu https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28827383

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Short summary

We used a global dataset to examine patterns and drivers of fungal necromass C (FNC), bacterial necromass C (BNC), and their ratio across agricultural and natural ecosystems. FNC contributed about twice as much as BNC to soil organic carbon (SOC) in both systems, with higher contributions overall in agricultural soils. Soil C/N and clay content mainly drove FNC and BNC contributions, while elevation primarily influenced the FNC/BNC ratio.