Should alterations in water viscosity be addressed in soil carbon models?

TL;DR

This paper explores how water viscosity, affected by temperature, influences soil microbial activity and carbon decomposition, highlighting its potential role in climate change feedbacks on soil carbon cycling.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that water viscosity, separate from temperature, could significantly impact soil microbial processes and carbon loss.

Findings

Viscosity affects bacterial mobility and nutrient diffusion.

Viscosity influences soil carbon decomposition rates.

Viscosity could be a key factor in climate change feedbacks.

Abstract

Despite all the efforts, there is no agreement on how temperature affects soil carbon decay and consequently soil CO2 emission, due to overlapping of environmental constraints. To gain further insight into the driving forces of soil microbial processes, we herein examine the abiotic physical environment and its potential influence on microbial activity. In this work we discuss a mechanism which is related to temperature sensitivity of soil carbon stability following a first-order kinetic theory. Soil carbon decomposition is linked to diffusion and consequently to water viscosity, splitting the effects of temperature from viscosity, here we suggest that viscosity could be a controlling factor on bacterial mobility and nutrient diffusion. As a result, viscosity effect on the potential soil carbon losses is demonstrated and could be an important influence in the feedbacks of climate change on soil carbon cycling kinetics.