Summary
This broad-scale radiocarbon study quantifies soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa, revealing that moderately weathered soils in seasonal climates with reactive clay minerals retain carbon longer (topsoil 201±130 years; subsoil 645±385 years) than highly weathered humid soils (topsoil 140±46 years; subsoil 454±247 years), whilst arid soils show intermediate persistence (topsoil 396±339 years; subsoil 963±669 years). The authors propose that process-oriented soil grouping based on pedo-climatic conditions may improve predictions of soil carbon responses to climate change at landscape scales.
UK applicability
The study's findings are derived from sub-Saharan African soil and climate contexts that differ substantially from UK temperate conditions; however, the methodological approach using radiocarbon and mineralogy to quantify carbon persistence timescales may inform UK soil monitoring and carbon accounting frameworks, particularly for improving model validation across diverse soil types.
Key measures
Organic carbon residence time (mean ± SD) in years for topsoil and subsoil; soil weathering class; clay mineral reactivity; climate zone classification
Outcomes reported
The study measured organic carbon persistence timescales using radiocarbon dating and mineral analysis across sub-Saharan African soils under different climate and weathering conditions. It reported mean carbon residence times in topsoil and subsoil layers stratified by soil weathering status, climate zone, and clay mineralogy.
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