edu.ucar.opensky::articles:43709 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-24T17:50:16.421224 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d75t3qxw Soil carbon saturation: What do we really know? 2025-05-01T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d75t3qxw https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70197 Georgiou, K. author Angers, D. author Champiny, R. E. author Cotrufo, M. F. author Craig, M. E. author Doetterl, S. author Grandy, A. S. author Lavallee, J. M. author Lin, Y. author Lugato, E. author Poeplau, C. author Rocci, K. S. author Schweizer, S. A. author Six, J. author Wieder, William author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Managing soils to increase organic carbon storage presents a potential opportunity to mitigate and adapt to global change challenges, while providing numerous co&#8208;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&#8211;mineral associations given the finite nature of reactive minerals in a soil. While the concept of soil carbon saturation has existed for over 25&#8201;years, recent studies have argued for and against its importance. Here, we summarize the conceptual understanding of soil carbon saturation at both micro&#8208; and macro&#8208;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&#8208;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. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication <span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;font-style:normal;" data-sheets-root="1">Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</span> None eng geoscientificInformation