Summary
This Nature Reviews Earth & Environment article presents a landscape-scale synthesis of soil organic matter dynamics, integrating recent findings on SOM stability, transport, and transformation across diverse ecosystems and management contexts. The authors examine how landscape position, hydrology, soil properties, and land use collectively shape organic matter storage and persistence, moving beyond plot-scale perspectives to reveal mechanisms operating at field and regional scales. The review as suggested by its scope aims to provide a conceptual framework for understanding SOM dynamics relevant to soil health, carbon sequestration, and agricultural productivity.
UK applicability
The landscape-scale framework is applicable to UK farming and land management, particularly for understanding SOM dynamics in diverse arable, grassland, and mixed systems across variable topography and soil types. Findings on how land use and hydrological connectivity influence SOM stability may inform UK soil conservation and carbon sequestration policies under agricultural sustainability goals.
Key measures
Soil organic matter content, composition, stability, spatial heterogeneity, and landscape-scale controls on organic matter dynamics
Outcomes reported
This review synthesises evidence on soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics across spatial scales, examining how landscape-level processes influence SOM storage, stability, and cycling in agricultural and natural systems.
Topic tags
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