Soil organic carbon across space and Time: Where chronosequences Still matter

Summary

This narrative review examines chronosequences—a century-old pedological approach that uses spatial variation to infer temporal SOC dynamics—across diverse geomorphic and bioclimatic contexts. The authors critically evaluate the method's conceptual foundations, methodological strengths and limitations, and explicitly connect chronosequence findings to contemporary frameworks of SOC formation and stabilization through microbial and mineral-mediated processes. Despite acknowledged imperfections in key assumptions (site comparability, trajectory stability), the review concludes that chronosequences remain essential for constraining long-term SOC dynamics and bridging process-based models with soil temporal development.

Regional applicability

The review's scope is global and geomorphically diverse, without specific geographic focus. Findings on chronosequence methodology and SOC patterns are transferable to United Kingdom conditions, particularly for assessing long-term SOC recovery in managed and disturbed soils, though UK-specific applications would need to account for temperate climate and land-use contexts.

Key measures

Soil organic carbon accumulation, vertical redistribution, long-term retrogression patterns; evaluation of chronosequence methodology and assumptions

Outcomes reported

The study reviewed chronosequence approaches for inferring long-term soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics by substituting spatial gradients for temporal observations, and evaluated their methodological strengths and limitations in constraining SOC accumulation, redistribution, and retrogression patterns across diverse geomorphic and bioclimatic settings.

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