Leaching of dissolved organic carbon from mineral soils plays a significant role in the terrestrial carbon balance.

ABSTRACT: The leaching of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from soils to the river network is an overlooked component of the terrestrial soil C budget. Measurements of DOC concentrations in soil, runoff and drainage are scarce and their spatial distribution highly skewed towards industrialized countries. The contribution of terrestrial DOC leaching to the global-scale C balance of terrestrial ecosystems thus remains poorly constrained. Here, using a process based, integrative, modelling approach to upscale from existing observations, we estimate a global terrestrial DOC leaching flux of 0.28 ± 0.07 Gt C year^-1 which is conservative, as it only includes the contribution of mineral soils. Our results suggest that globally about 15% of the terrestrial Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP, calculate

SUBMITTER: Nakhavali M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7898291 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature