Home tagpages drylands Dryland soils store carbon up to thousands of years, much longer than expected April 22, 2026 Carbon Cycle Climate Change drylands Jianbei Huang Microorganisms soils Researchers used radiocarbon to show that organic carbon in dryland topsoils is much older than previously estimated, averaging about 2,000 years. However, when dry soils are wetted, even old carbon is decomposed and respired by microbes. more
