Xu et al. 2013. Global analysis of soil microbial biomass C, N, P

Xu et al. 2013. A global analysis of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in terrestrial ecosystems. Global Ecology and Biogeography 22:737-749.

Main conclusions

The global storage of soil microbial biomass C and N were estimated to be 16.7 Pg C and 2.6 Pg N in the 0–30 cm soil profiles, and 23.2 Pg C and 3.7 Pg N in the 0–100 cm soil profiles. We did not estimate P in soil microbial biomass due to insufficient data and insignificant correlation between soil total P and climate variables used for spatial extrapolation. The spatial patterns of soil microbial biomass C and N were consistent with those of soil organic C and total N, i.e. high density in northern high latitude, and low density in low latitudes and the Southern Hemisphere.

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