Organo-Mineral Interactions: The Role of Biotic and Abiotic Controls on the Dynamics and Storage of C in Soil

Dear Colleagues,

Organo-mineral interactions are recognized as a key factor in stabilizing organic matter against biological decomposition in soils. They thus are essential to our understanding of soil organic matter dynamics and why, where, and for how long C is stored in soils.

The mineral component encompasses particles ranging from a few millimeters in size to nanoscale phases, with an increasing reactivity towards organic compounds the lower the crystallinity of the minerals. Weathering of minerals continuously increases the reactivity of mineral surfaces by providing reactive cations and nanophases, on which organic compounds may bind through adsorption, coprecipitation, and/or complexation.

The organic component is mainly composed of microbial by-products. Some groups of organic compounds are known to bind efficiently to metals, leading to organic matter fractionation upon organo-mineral interactions. However, no particular compounds seem yet to be recognized as dominant in organo-mineral associations.

Recent studies point out that organo-mineral associations are not static. They can form and break depending on microsite conditions (i.e., the presence of minerals, redox conditions, pH, water content, type of organic molecules, etc.). These microsite conditions not only depend on environmental characteristics but also on ecological parameters including the amount and nature of organic inputs derived from plants and products of microbial and faunal activity. Such inputs need to be considered more specifically as drivers controling the dynamics of organo-mineral associations.

We encourage submissions of papers investigating any of the above-cited topics, including the time dependence of organo-mineral associations dynamics, conceptual, analogic or numerical organo-mineral associations modeling, the nano-scale characterization of organo-mineral interactions through high-resolution imaging microscopies and spectroscopies, the impact of plant C input, the role of soil fauna and microorganisms, as well as organo-mineral interactions for C storage issues in any type of ecosystem.

Dr. Isabelle Basile-Doelsch
Dr. Jeff Baldock
Dr. Stephan Hättenschwiler
Guest Editors

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