Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests

Malhotra A., J.A.M. Moore , S. Weintraub-Leff, K. Georgiou,A.A. Berhe , S.A. Billings et al.. 2025. Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests. Communications Earth and Environment 6:497. Available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02486-9.

Forest and alpine grassland at Niwot Ridge. Photo credit: Jane Smith

Abstract

Increasing fine root carbon (FRC) inputs into soils has been proposed as a solution to increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). However, FRC inputs can also enhance SOC loss through priming. Here, we tested the broad-scale relationships between SOC and FRC at 43 sites across the US National Ecological Observatory Network. We found that SOC and FRC stocks were positively related with an across-ecosystem slope of 7 ± 3 kg SOC m−2 per kg FRC m−2, but this relationship was driven by grasslands. Grasslands had double the across-ecosystem slope while forest FRC and SOC were unrelated. Furthermore, deep grassland soils primarily showed net SOC accrual relative to FRC input. Conversely, forests had high variability in whether FRC inputs were related to net SOC priming or accrual. We conclude that while FRC increases could lead to increased SOC in grasslands, especially at depth, the FRC-SOC relationship remains difficult to characterize in forests.