Much research focuses on increasing carbon storage in mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM), in which carbon may persist for centuries to millennia. However, MAOM-targeted management is insufficient because the formation pathways of persistent soil organic matter are diverse and vary with environmental conditions. Effective management must also consider particulate organic matter (POM). In many soils, there is potential for enlarging POM pools, POM can persist over long time scales, and POM can be a direct precursor of MAOM. We present a framework for context-dependent management strategies that recognizes soils as complex systems in which environmental conditions constrain POM and MAOM formation.

Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry České Budějovice Czech Republic

Chair of Soil Science TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan Technical University of Munich 85354 Freising Germany

Department of Agronomy Iowa State University Ames IA USA

Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Sciences Cleveland State University Cleveland OH USA

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Institute for Organic Farming Soil and Resource Management Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture 85354 Freising Germany

Institute of Biology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany

Soil Resources and Land Use Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology TU Dresden Dresden Germany

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Un(der)explored links between plant diversity and particulate and mineral-associated organic matter in soil

Conceptualizing soil fauna effects on labile and stabilized soil organic matter