(August 17, 2012) A new carbon cycling model developed at the U.S. Department
of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory better accounts for the carbon
dioxide-releasing activity of microbes in the ground, improving scientists'
understanding of the role soil will play in future climate change.
Predicting climate change depends heavily on the cycling of
carbon dioxide, which is found in four main reservoirs: the atmosphere,
biosphere, oceans and soil. ORNL's model was designed to replace traditional
soil carbon cycling models.
"Soil is a big reservoir of carbon," said co-author Melanie Mayes of ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division. "And most of the soil carbon cycling models in use today are so vastly simplified that they ignore the fact that decomposition is actually performed by microbes."