ABSTRACT
The ability to measure the amount carbon (C) stored in soils is crucial to understand C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Globally, soils contain more than twice as much C as the atmosphere (Schimel et al., 1995). Moreover, the two pools are intricately linked, so that a loss of soil C increases atmospheric C 02, while a gain in soil C withdraws C 02 from the air. Recently, concern about climate change has promoted interest in mitigating atmospheric C 02 increases by sequestering organic C in soils.
