Open AccessClimate control on terrestrial biospheric carbon turnover
Author(s) -
Timothy I. Eglinton,
Valier Galy,
Jordon Hemingway,
Xiaojuan Feng,
Hongyan Bao,
Thomas M. Blattmann,
Angela F. Dickens,
Hannah Gies,
Liviu Giosan,
Negar Haghipour,
Pengfei Hou,
Maarten Lupker,
Cameron McIntyre,
Daniel B. Montluçon,
Bernhard PeuckerEhrenbrink,
Camilo Ponton,
Enno Schefuß,
Melissa Schwab,
Lukas Wacker,
Ying Wu,
Meixun Zhao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2011585118
Subject(s) - environmental science , terrestrial ecosystem , carbon cycle , soil carbon , climate change , carbon sink , soil water , carbon fibers , total organic carbon , vegetation (pathology) , greenhouse gas , atmospheric carbon cycle , sink (geography) , ecosystem , earth science , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , soil science , geology , geography , biology , medicine , materials science , cartography , geotechnical engineering , pathology , composite number , composite material
Significance Terrestrial organic-carbon reservoirs (vegetation, soils) currently consume more than a third of anthropogenic carbon emitted to the atmosphere, but the response of this “terrestrial sink” to future climate change is widely debated. Rivers export organic carbon sourced over their watersheds, offering an opportunity to assess controls on land carbon cycling on broad spatial scales. Using radiocarbon ages of biomolecular tracer compounds exported by rivers, we show that temperature and precipitation exert primary controls on biospheric-carbon turnover within river basins. These findings reveal large-scale climate control on soil carbon stocks, and they provide a framework to quantify responses of terrestrial organic-carbon reservoirs to past and future change.