---
chapter:
  doi: 10.7930/SOCCR2.2018.Ch10
  identifier: grasslands
  number: 10
  report_identifier: second-state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr2-sustained-assessment-report
  sort_key: 100
  title: Grasslands
  url: https://carbon2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/10/
chapter_identifier: grasslands
cited_by: []
confidence: 'Mechanistic understanding of soil carbon stability in the face of climate change is still limited, leading to only medium confidence levels regarding the response of soil carbon to climate changes.'
contributors: []
evidence: 'Meta-analysis of numerous field experiments showed that soil carbon stocks increase when precipitation is increased or decreased in grasslands (Zhou et al., 2016). Meta-analysis also showed that elevated CO<sub>2</sub> increased soil carbon decomposition rate, limiting carbon storage potential (van Groenigen et al., 2014). Field experiments indicate that soil carbon stocks decrease with warming, especially in regions where stocks are high to begin with (Crowther et al., 2016), although warming-induced soil carbon losses from grasslands may be insignificant (Lu et al., 2013). These results are confirmed in some simulation experiments (e.g., Parton et al., 2007; Shi et al., 2015).'
files: []
gcmd_keywords: []
href: https://data.globalchange.gov/report/second-state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr2-sustained-assessment-report/chapter/grasslands/finding/key-message-10-3.yaml
identifier: key-message-10-3
ordinal: 3
parents:
  - activity_uri: ~
    label: 'figure P.2: P.2. Likelihood and Confidence Evaluation'
    note: ''
    publication_type_identifier: figure
    relationship: prov:wasDerivedFrom
    url: /report/second-state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr2-sustained-assessment-report/chapter/preface/figure/figurep-4
process: ''
references: []
regions: []
report_identifier: second-state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr2-sustained-assessment-report
statement: 'Soil carbon in grasslands is likely to be moderately responsive to changes in climate over the next several decades. Field experiments in grasslands suggest that altered precipitation can increase soil carbon, while warming and elevated CO<sub>2</sub> may have only minimal effects despite altered productivity (<em>medium confidence, likely</em>).'
uncertainties: 'Major uncertainties in soil carbon storage come from insufficient understanding of physical and biological mechanisms that determine the stability of soil carbon. Physical mechanisms underlying carbon stability in soil, such as protection within aggregates and their sensitivity to climate change, are still poorly described (Heimann and Reichstein 2008). In particular, regulation of soil organic matter decomposition by microbe-plant interactions is poorly understood and not well represented in models (Wieder et al., 2015). Improving mechanistic understanding of soil carbon dynamics, and incorporating key mechanisms into models, will reduce uncertainties in future carbon cycle predictions (Todd-Brown et al., 2013).'
uri: /report/second-state-carbon-cycle-report-soccr2-sustained-assessment-report/chapter/grasslands/finding/key-message-10-3
url: ~