Overview

• The peer-reviewed study in Biogeochemistry incubated soil from Whitehall Forest in Athens, Georgia, under ambient, +1.5°C, and +2.5°C conditions for 22 days.
• Warming without added substrates produced no sustained increase in microbial respiration or microbial biomass.
• Carbon dioxide release rose only after additions of labile carbon, with nutrient effects apparent once carbon scarcity was relieved.
• Heating with nutrient additions but without extra carbon did not elevate emissions from this former cotton field soil.
• Authors report U.S. Department of Energy funding and note ongoing tropical field tests in Puerto Rico and Panama.