Figure 3: Diagram of properties of conceptual pools of belowground carbon stocks in two well-known models.
From: Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change
The CENTURY33 and ROTH-C34 models each define three discrete soil carbon pools in the mineral soil that lie roughly along a continuum of decomposability and MRT in the soil. The temperature sensitivity of decomposition of the more recalcitrant forms of C is the subject of recent debate. Much of this confusion is due to the fact that the recalcitrant pools are mixtures of simple compounds that have long MRTs owing to physical or chemical protection from decomposition and more complex compounds that have inherently low reactivity and require high activation energy for decomposition.
