Soil Science Commons^™

Drivers And Controls On Soil Carbon Storage In Temperate Forest Soils, Adam Noel

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Elevated atmospheric CO2 levels pose a threat the global climate stability but large amounts of carbon can be held within soils worldwide. Forests function to capture carbon and eventually, through litter inputs and decomposition, add this carbon to soil systems. This process is driven by climate, landscape conditions, forest and soil characteristics, that have complex interactions with one another across spatial scales. In this dissertation, I examine drivers of carbon contributions to the mineral soil, via litter decomposition and forest floor carbon pools, and how these contributions vary with forest composition and soil conditions. First, using data from a 10-year …