Long-term increases in soil carbon due to ecosystem fertilization by atmospheric nitrogen deposition demonstrated by...

Fertilization of nitrogen (N)-limited ecosystems by anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen deposition (N_dep) may promote CO₂ removal from the atmosphere, thereby buffering human effects on global radiative forcing. We used the biogeochemical ecosystem model N14CP, which considers interactions among C (carbon), N and P (phosphorus), driven by a new reconstruction of historical N_dep, to assess the responses of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in British semi-natural landscapes to anthropogenic change. We calculate that increased net primary production due to N_dep has enhanced detrital inputs of C to soils, causing an average increase of 1.2 kgCm^-2 (c. 10%) in soil SOC over the period 1750-2010. The simulation results are consistent with observed changes in topsoil SOC concentration in the late 20^th Century, derived from sample-resample measurements at nearly 2000 field sites. More than half (57%) of the additional topsoil SOC is predicted to have a short turnover time (c. 20 years), and will therefore be sensitive to future changes in N_dep. The results are the first to validate model predictions of N_dep effects against observations of SOC at a regional field scale. They demonstrate the importance of long-term macronutrient interactions and the transitory nature of soil responses in the terrestrial C cycle.