Functional shift hypothesis and the relationship between temperature and soil carbon accumulation

Recent experimental evidence on the relationship between temperature and litter or soil organic matter decomposition suggests that the simple assumption that temperature affects the rate constant of the processes may not be valid. Thermal conditions seem to influence the kinetics of C mineralization by changing, in a qualitatively predictable way, the estimated percentages of initial material that behave as labile or recalcitrant. The consequences of this shift in mineralization dynamics due to temperature, referred to as the functional shift hypothesis, for the long-term C accumulation potential of a soil were investigated using a modified version of Jenny's model. It was concluded that if soils behave according to the functional shift hypothesis, then the utilization of Q10 or other temperature response functions by simulation models leads to significant overestimations of soil C losses due to temperature increase.