Climate change impacts on organic carbon cycling in European alpine soils

Summary

This narrative review examines how climate change disrupts soil organic carbon cycling in alpine regions, where low temperatures and snow cover typically stabilise large SOC pools. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation, and reduced snow cover are expected to accelerate microbial decomposition and shift vegetation inputs, potentially triggering net SOC losses. The authors identify integrating microbe–plant–soil linkages as essential for robust predictions of alpine SOC response to future climate scenarios.

Regional applicability

The findings are directly relevant to the United Kingdom's upland and mountain regions (Scottish Highlands, Lake District, Snowdonia, Pennines), where alpine and sub-alpine soils with significant SOC stocks face similar climate pressures. However, UK alpine zones are at lower elevation and warmer baseline temperatures than continental European alps, so transfer of specific thresholds requires contextualisation.

Key measures

Soil organic carbon stocks, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE), decomposition rates, vegetation community composition, organic matter inputs, carbon loss pathways, freeze–thaw cycles, drought impacts

Outcomes reported

The review synthesised evidence on how rising temperatures, altered precipitation, and reduced snow cover affect soil organic carbon (SOC) input and loss processes in alpine soils. It identified persistent knowledge gaps in understanding how net changes in SOC stocks will respond to combined climatic pressures in these ecosystems.

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