permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

The contentious nature of soil organic matter - nature16069.pdf
https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nature16069.pdf
The exchange of nutrients, energy and carbon between soil organic matter,
the soil environment, aquatic systems and
the atmosphere is important for agricultural productivity, water quality
and climate. Long-standing theory suggests that
soil organic matter is composed of inherently stable and chemically unique
compounds. Here we argue that the available
evidence does not support the formation of large-molecular-size and
persistent ‘humic substances’ in soils. Instead, soil
organic matter is a continuum of progressively decomposing organic
compounds. We discuss implications of this view of
the nature of soil organic matter for aquatic health, soil carbon–climate
interactions and land management.