Continental-scale relationships of fine root and soil carbon stocks hold in grasslands but not forests

Increasing root carbon inputs into soils has been proposed as a solution to increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). However, while fine root carbon (FRC) inputs can increase SOC accrual in soils, FRC can also enhance SOC loss by stimulating microbial respiration and cause a net loss of SOC through priming. It remains unclear how SOC varies as a function of FRC at broad spatial scales. Here, we tested the relationship of SOC and FRC using data from 43 sites across Continental USA. We found that total stocks of SOC and FRC in the top 2 meters of soil were positively related with an across-ecosystem slope of 7 ± 3 kg SOC m-2 per kg FRC m-2. However, grassland sites primarily drove this relationship. Grasslands had 15 ± 2 kg SOC m-2 per kg FRC m-2, which is double the across-ecosystem slope. We found that in grasslands, FRC inputs are strongly related to SOC accrual, especially at depth and at sites with high moisture and clay content. In contrast, SOC-FRC relationships in forests remain difficult to characterize. Nevertheless, deep grassland soils may serve as optimal environments in which increasing FRC could lead to meaningful increases in SOC stocks.