Jingwei Shi, Lei Deng, Jianzhao Wu, Yuanyuan Huang, Yajing Dong, Josep Peñuelas, Yang Liao, Lin Yang, Xingyun Huang, Hailong Zhang, Jiwei Li, Zhouping Shangguan, Yakov Kuzyakov
{"title":"Global Change Modulates Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency: Mechanisms and Impacts on Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics","authors":"Jingwei Shi, Lei Deng, Jianzhao Wu, Yuanyuan Huang, Yajing Dong, Josep Peñuelas, Yang Liao, Lin Yang, Xingyun Huang, Hailong Zhang, Jiwei Li, Zhouping Shangguan, Yakov Kuzyakov","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70240","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is a key parameter of initial microbial utilization of organic matter in soil. The responses of CUE to global change factors (GCFs) remain unclear due to their multiple effects and interactions. Here, this study generalized 385 observations obtained using various methods, including <sup>13</sup>C-/<sup>14</sup>C-labeled substrates, <sup>18</sup>O-labeled water, stoichiometric modeling, and others. The effects of climate change (drought, precipitation, warming), fertilization (nitrogen addition, phosphorus addition, potassium addition, and nitrogen fertilization combined with phosphorus and potassium), land use conversion, and natural restoration, were evaluated along with their 16 associated GCFs on CUE. CUE was insensitive to climate change factors and most fertilization practices, maintaining a mean value of 0.36 under global change scenarios. Farmland conversion to forest and vegetation restoration decreased CUE by 11% and 17%, respectively. Grassland restoration increased CUE by 41%, indicating that grasslands have high potential for soil carbon accrual. Nitrogen fertilization combined with phosphorus and potassium increased CUE by 18% because the combined application of nutrients allows plants to produce organic matter sources with high-quality and decreases nutrient limitations for microorganisms. Increase in soil pH induced by GCFs leads to higher CUE. The CUE was decoupled from soil organic carbon content under several global change scenarios (e.g., warming, fertilization), suggesting that this relationship is not universally consistent across GCFs. This study provides a new perspective on the responses of CUE to GCFs and deepens our understanding of the global change effects on microbial physiology with consequences for soil carbon cycling.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143944444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba, Heinz Rennenberg, Bin Hu
{"title":"Insights Into the Efficiency and Health Impacts of Emerging Microplastic Bioremediation Approaches","authors":"Mbezele Junior Yannick Ngaba, Heinz Rennenberg, Bin Hu","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70226","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The pollution caused by microplastics (MPs) is a global environmental and health concern. These plastic particles disrupt food chains and pose health risks to organisms, including humans. From a total of 827 studies, synthetic textiles (35%) and tires (28%) are the primary sources of MPs, with fibers being the most common shape (60%). MPs were detected in feces (44% of studies), lungs (35%), and blood (17%), indicating widespread contamination and potential health impacts. Bioremediation is a promising and sustainable method for mitigating MP pollution, as it uses microorganisms and plants to break down or convert MPs into less hazardous substances. However, it is important to understand and address the potential unintended consequences of bioremediation methods on the environment and human health. This scoping literature review examines the efficiency of currently emerging approaches for microplastic bioremediation, their strengths and weaknesses, and their potential impacts on the environment and human health. Highly effective methods such as mycoremediation, soil microbes for enhanced biodegradation, and phytoextraction were identified, but they pose high toxicity risks. Moderately effective methods include plant-assisted remediation, rhizosphere degradation, phytodegradation, and biodegradation, with effectiveness rates between 50% and 65% and moderate toxicity risks.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143944432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antoine Mathieu, Marc-Olivier Martin-Guay, David Rivest
{"title":"Enhancement of Agroecosystem Multifunctionality by Agroforestry: A Global Quantitative Summary","authors":"Antoine Mathieu, Marc-Olivier Martin-Guay, David Rivest","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70234","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In comparison with conventional agriculture, agroforestry systems improve the delivery of multiple ecosystem services and support greater biodiversity. Yet, the effects of agroforestry on various ecosystem services and biodiversity vary worldwide between climatic regions and system types, and studies often focus on measuring a small number of services or biodiversity indicators. We conducted a quantitative summary of multiple large-scale meta-analyses comparing service delivery or biodiversity between agroforestry systems and conventional agricultural systems to capture the global effect of agroforestry on agroecosystem multifunctionality. Data were aggregated from 20 meta-analyses, many of them global, and response ratios were calculated to assess relative effects of agroforestry systems worldwide on multiple categories of biodiversity indicators and production, regulation, and support services. By combining different datasets that addressed specific ecosystem services or biodiversity indicators and analyzing 3075 comparisons between agroforestry systems and their conventional counterparts, we found that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem service delivery and biodiversity globally by an average of 23%. The effects were more pronounced on supporting and regulating services and biodiversity than on production services. The vast majority of analyzed services and biodiversity indicators were enhanced in agroforestry systems, while few were either not affected or affected negatively. Among ecosystem services analyzed along an aridity gradient, only soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and forage production varied significantly. The positive effects of agroforestry on SOC stocks were stronger in drier conditions, while those on forage production followed a quadratic trend, with maximal benefits in arid conditions. Our results suggest that broad-scale adoption of agroforestry in conventional agriculture could benefit agroecosystem multifunctionality globally without sacrificing productivity and would help support sustainable food production.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70234","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143944756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Graeme C. Hays, Mohd Uzair Rusli, David Booth, Jacques-Olivier Laloë
{"title":"Global Decline in the Size of Sea Turtles","authors":"Graeme C. Hays, Mohd Uzair Rusli, David Booth, Jacques-Olivier Laloë","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70225","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Changes in mean adult body size may be a universal response to global warming and sometimes lead to conservation concerns. We show that size reductions in sea turtles are now the norm and have another explanation. From 18,707 measurements of nester size (curve carapace length) for sea turtles spanning 30 years from Redang Island (Malaysia), where nearly all nesting individuals have been tagged, we show that the mean size was initially fairly stable and then decreased by 4.0 cm from 100.8 cm in 2005 to 96.8 cm in 2022, which likely translates to a change in mean mass from 120 to 105 kg. At the same time, nesting increased from around 300 to 2000 nests per year. Consistent with this finding of a size reduction in an expanding population, at 27 of 31 sites across the globe where changes in the mean size of nesting sea turtles have been assessed, mean size is decreasing, and the most marked decreases are at sites where population size is increasing most dramatically. Taken together, these focal and global findings suggest that an important driver of size reductions in sea turtles is an influx of small first-time nesters (neophytes) in expanding populations, and hence, size reductions are partially a consequence of successful sea turtle conservation measures and population recoveries. At the same time, the focal observations in Malaysia show that the mean size of neophytes has also been getting smaller over time: from 99.6 to 96.8 cm between 2005 and 2022, likely because of a change in foraging environments. While smaller turtles have lower reproductive output, this negative consequence of decreases in nester size will often be more than offset by increases in nesting numbers that are occurring widely.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70225","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143944757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yann Herrera Fuchs, Graham J. Edgar, Neville S. Barrett, Lara Denis-Roy, Shenae Y. Willis, Hunter Forbes, Rick D. Stuart-Smith
{"title":"Contrasting Population Trajectories of Temperate Reef Fishes and Invertebrates Following Seasonal and Multi-Decadal Temperature Change","authors":"Yann Herrera Fuchs, Graham J. Edgar, Neville S. Barrett, Lara Denis-Roy, Shenae Y. Willis, Hunter Forbes, Rick D. Stuart-Smith","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70233","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Temperature perturbations from climate change affect ecosystems through short-term pulse events, such as heatwaves, and chronic long-term shifts. Temperate rocky reef ecosystems have been observed to show substantial ecological change as a result of short-term temperature fluctuations, but the longer-term impacts of temperature change remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate temperate reef fishes and mobile invertebrates along Tasmania's east coast, contrasting trends in species richness, abundance, and community structure across seasons within a year to those observed over three decades of warming. Fishes exhibited dynamic seasonal shifts, but interannual changes in richness and abundance balanced out over decades with limited overall net change. In contrast, invertebrate communities changed little seasonally but suffered significant long-term losses. Our study revealed short-term ecological changes driven by temperature to be incongruent with long-term shifts. Species responded in varying ways, depending on life history and ecology. Fishes apparently tracked short temperature pulses, while less mobile invertebrates, such as echinoderms and molluscs, tolerated short-term fluctuations but exhibited long-term decline. Multi-scale studies across a broad range of taxa are needed to clarify thermal responses. The most vulnerable taxa—those facing long-term thermal stress—may be overlooked through decisions based on short-term studies, risking major biodiversity loss.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70233","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143938924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pilar Hurtado, Josep Maria Espelta, Luciana Jaime, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Manto Samou Kokolaki, Marcus Lindner, Francisco Lloret
{"title":"Biodiversity and Management as Central Players in the Network of Relationships Underlying Forest Resilience","authors":"Pilar Hurtado, Josep Maria Espelta, Luciana Jaime, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Manto Samou Kokolaki, Marcus Lindner, Francisco Lloret","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70196","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global change is threatening the integrity of forest ecosystems worldwide, amplifying the need for resilience-based management to ensure their conservation and sustain the services they provide. Yet, current efforts are still limited by the lack of implementation of clear frameworks for operationalizing resilience in decision-making processes. To overcome this limitation, we aim to identify reliable and effective drivers of forest resilience, considering their synergies and trade-offs. From a comprehensive review of 342 scientific articles addressing resilience in forests globally, we identified factors shaping forest resilience. We recognized them into two categories that influence forest responses to disturbances: resilience predictors, which can be modified through management, and codrivers, which are measurable but largely unmanageable (e.g., climate). We then performed network analyses based on predictors and codrivers underlying forest resilience. In total, we recognized 5332 such relationships linking predictors or codrivers with forest attributes resilience. Our findings support the central role of biodiversity, with mixed, non-planted, or functionally diverse forests promoting resilience across all contexts and biomes. While management also enhanced resilience, the success of specific interventions was highly context-dependent, suggesting that its application requires a careful analysis of trade-offs. Specifically, practices like cutting and prescribed burning generally enhanced resilience in terms of tree growth, plant diversity, landscape vegetation cover, and stand structure. In contrast, pest and herbivore control reduced the resilience of plant taxonomic diversity while offering only minimal gains for other variables. Even long-term restoration projects showed clear trade-offs in the resilience of different forest attributes, highlighting the need for careful consideration of these effects in practical management decisions. Overall, we emphasize that a reduced number of predictors can be used to effectively promote forest resilience across most attributes. Particularly, enhancing biodiversity and implementing targeted management strategies when biodiversity is impoverished emerge as powerful tools to promote forest resilience.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70196","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143938925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Environmental Change Can Result in Irreversible Biodiversity Loss in Recently Formed Species Flocks","authors":"Hanna ten Brink","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70239","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Adaptive radiations, where a lineage diversifies into multiple species exploiting different niches, are key drivers of biodiversity. It is therefore important to understand the factors that drive such radiations and how changing environmental conditions affect their persistence. Using a size-structured model, I study how changing environmental conditions impact the persistence of a six-species flock. At birth, individuals are constrained to feed on a shared resource. As they mature, individuals diversify into six specialized forms, each adapted to feed on specific resources. Environmental changes affecting one species can trigger a cascade, altering the size structure of the focal species and subsequently affecting resource availability for other species. Under these altered ecological conditions, coexistence of all species becomes impossible. Importantly, once species are lost, they cannot re-establish even when environmental conditions return to their original state, resulting in irreversible biodiversity loss. These findings underscore the vulnerability of species flocks to environmental change and highlight the potential for unexpected outcomes in the face of shifting ecological conditions due to climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70239","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143930380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael Zehnder, Beat Pfund, Jan Svoboda, Christoph Marty, Yann Vitasse, Jake Alexander, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Christian Rixen
{"title":"Snow Height Sensors Reveal Phenological Advance in Alpine Grasslands","authors":"Michael Zehnder, Beat Pfund, Jan Svoboda, Christoph Marty, Yann Vitasse, Jake Alexander, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Christian Rixen","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70195","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Long-term phenological data in alpine regions are often limited to a few locations and thus, little is known about climate-change-induced plant phenological shifts above the treeline. Because plant growth initiation in seasonally snow-covered regions is largely driven by snowmelt timing and local temperature, it is essential to simultaneously track phenological shifts, snowmelt, and near-ground temperatures. In this study, we make use of ultrasonic snow height sensors installed at climate stations in the Swiss Alps to reveal the phenological advance of grassland ecosystems and relate them to climatic changes over 25 years (1998–2023). When snow is absent, these snow height sensors additionally provide information on plant growth at a uniquely fine temporal scale. We applied a two-step machine learning algorithm to separate snow- from plant-height measurements, allowing us to determine melt-out for 122 stations between 1560 and 2950 m a.s.l., and to extract seasonal plant growth signals for a subset of 40 stations used for phenological analyses. We identified the start of growth and calculated temperature trends, focusing particularly on thermal conditions between melt-out and growth initiation. We observed an advance of green-up by −2.4 days/decade coinciding with strong warming of up to +0.8°C/decade. Although the timing of snowmelt has not changed significantly over the study period in this focal region, phenological responses to early melt-out years varied due to differing influences of photoperiodic and thermal constraints, which were not equally important across elevations and communities. Phenological shifts of alpine grasslands are thus likely to become even more pronounced if snowmelt timing advances in the future as predicted. As climate change continues to reshape mountain ecosystems, understanding the interplay between phenological changes and species turnover will be essential for predicting future biodiversity patterns and informing conservation strategies in alpine regions.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143925823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climate-Driven Body Size Changes in Birds and Mammals Reveal Environmental Tolerance Limits","authors":"Matthew J. Watson, Jeremy T. Kerr","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70241","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change contributes to widespread shifts in body size across taxa which can impact population and community dynamics. However, the reasons for variability in the direction and intensity of responses remain uncertain. Smaller body size improves thermoregulatory efficiency but can increase dehydration risk. Changes in species' body size is likely to balance the tradeoffs of thermoregulation and osmotic balance when responding to shifts in thermal and aridity regimes associated with climate change. Using 119,183 bird and 183,087 mammal body mass, and 15,562 bird and 239,600 mammal body length records, along with species' thermal and aridity limits based on their range geographies, we tested for associations between body size and climatic conditions. We also assessed the impacts of human land use extent and interactions with species thermal environments. We found that smaller body mass measurements across taxa are associated with conditions closer to species' upper thermal (hot) and lower aridity (dry) tolerance limits. Agricultural land use extent was found to be positively associated with body mass measurements for both bird and mammal species. Shorter body lengths were observed for both birds and mammals the closer species were to their upper thermal limits. Further we found that thermal and aridity conditions interacted resulting in stronger negative associations between body mass and hotter temperatures the closer species were to their dry tolerance limits. Our results are consistent with predictions that differences in body size within bird and mammal species are driven by thermoregulatory pressures associated with thermal and aridity regimes. While species' range geographies and phenology are widely known to respond to anthropogenic climate change, the shifts in species' body sizes detected here are a third biotic response that exerts similarly profound ecological, evolutionary, and conservation effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70241","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143925896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katerina Georgiou, Denis Angers, Ryan E. Champiny, M. Francesca Cotrufo, Matthew E. Craig, Sebastian Doetterl, A. Stuart Grandy, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Yang Lin, Emanuele Lugato, Christopher Poeplau, Katherine S. Rocci, Steffen A. Schweizer, Johan Six, William R. Wieder
{"title":"Soil Carbon Saturation: What Do We Really Know?","authors":"Katerina Georgiou, Denis Angers, Ryan E. Champiny, M. Francesca Cotrufo, Matthew E. Craig, Sebastian Doetterl, A. Stuart Grandy, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Yang Lin, Emanuele Lugato, Christopher Poeplau, Katherine S. Rocci, Steffen A. Schweizer, Johan Six, William R. Wieder","doi":"10.1111/gcb.70197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70197","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Managing soils to increase organic carbon storage presents a potential opportunity to mitigate and adapt to global change challenges, while providing numerous co-benefits and ecosystem services. However, soils differ widely in their potential for carbon sequestration, and knowledge of biophysical limits to carbon accumulation may aid in informing priority regions. Consequently, there is great interest in assessing whether soils exhibit a maximum capacity for storing organic carbon, particularly within organo–mineral associations given the finite nature of reactive minerals in a soil. While the concept of soil carbon saturation has existed for over 25 years, recent studies have argued for and against its importance. Here, we summarize the conceptual understanding of soil carbon saturation at both micro- and macro-scales, define key terminology, and address common concerns and misconceptions. We review methods used to quantify soil carbon saturation, highlighting the theory and potential caveats of each approach. Critically, we explore the utility of the principles of soil carbon saturation for informing carbon accumulation, vulnerability to loss, and representations in process-based models. We highlight key knowledge gaps and propose next steps for furthering our mechanistic understanding of soil carbon saturation and its implications for soil management.</p>","PeriodicalId":175,"journal":{"name":"Global Change Biology","volume":"31 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.70197","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143925895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}