Recalcitrant soil organic materials mineralize more efficiently at higher temperatures

As concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ increase, it is important to know whether this may result in feedbacks that could modify the rate of increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Soil organic matter (SOM) represents one of the largest pools of C and mineralization rates are known to be temperature dependent. In this study, we investigated whether different OM fractions present in a forest soil (F/A1 horizon) would respond in a similar manner to elevated temperatures. We examined the trends in isotopic content (¹²C, ¹³C, and ¹⁴C) of soil respired CO₂ at various temperatures (10, 20, and 35 ⁰C) over a two year period in the laboratory. We also examined the total C, total N, and C : N ratio in the remaining soil and isolated humic fractions, and the distribution of the individual amino acids in the soil after 5 years of laboratory incubation at the various temperatures. We found that the rate at which C mineralization increases with temperature was occasionally greater than predicted by most models, more C from recalcitrant OM pools being mineralized at the higher temperature. This confirmed that the relationship between soil organic matter decomposition and temperature was complex and that the different pools of organic matter did respond in differing ways to elevated temperatures.