From Microbes to the Earth System: Upscaling Microbial Community Dynamics to Macro-scale Soil Carbon Models

Executive Summary

The goal of the proposed research is to better understand how the dynamics of soil microbial communities modulate macro-scale soil carbon cycling, specifically in response to changes in carbon input by plants. By integrating experimental data with mechanistic models, the proposed work will enhance our ability to predict how climate change and land-use scenarios impact soil sustainability and carbon sequestration in terrestrial carbon reservoirs, offering insight regarding effective mitigation actions.

Publications, Presentations, and Patents

Georgiou, Katerina, Avni Malhotra, William W. Wieder, Jaqueline H. Ennis, Melannie D. Hartman, Benjamin N. Sulman, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, et al. 2021. “Divergent Controls of Soil Organic Carbon Between Observations and Process-based Models,” Biogeochemistry, 156 (1): 5-17. [LLNL-JRNL-823855].

Pellegrini, Adam F. A., Anthony C. Caprio, Katerina Georgiou, Colin Finnegan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Jeffery A. Hatten, Robert B. Jackson. 2021. “Low‐intensity Frequent Fires in Coniferous Forests Transform Soil Organic Matter in Ways That May Offset Ecosystem Carbon Losses,” Global Change Biology 27: 3810-3823. [LLNL-JRNL-821940].

Abramoff, Rose Z., Bertrand Guenet, Haicheng Zhang, Katerina Georgiou, Xiaofeng Xu, Raphael A. Viscara Rossel, Wenping Yuan, Philippe Ciais. 2021. “Site-level Simulations of Measurable Soil Fractions with Millennial Version 2,” Soil Biology & Biochemistry, accepted. [LLNL-JRNL-825877].

Kristensen, Jeppe A., Jens-Christian Svenning, Katerina Georgiou, Yadvinder Malhi. "Can Large Herbivores Stabilize Ecosystem Carbon?" Trends in Ecology & Evolution, accepted. [LLNL-JRNL-825879].

Georgiou, Katerina, Avni Malhotra, William W. Wieder, Jaqueline H. Ennis, Melannie D. Hartman, Benjamin N. Sulman, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, et al. 2020. “Biome- to Global-scale Controls on Soil Carbon Storage: Divergence Between Observations and Process-based Models.” AGU Fall Meeting, virtual, oral presentation. [LLNL-PRES- 817702].

Georgiou, Katerina. 2020. “Machine Learning Emulators Reveal Divergence in Soil Carbon Controls Between Observations and Process-based Models.” CLAND Workshop on Machine Learning for Climate, virtual, invited oral presentation. [LLNL-PRES- 817702].