Black carbon affects the cycling of non-black carbon in soil

Abstract Black carbon (BC) is an important fraction of many soils worldwide and plays an important role in global C biogeochemistry. However, few studies have examined how it influences the mineralization of added organic matter (AOM) and its incorporation into soil physical fractions and whether BC decomposition is increased by AOM. BC-rich Anthrosols and BC-poor adjacent soils from the Central Amazon (Brazil) were incubated for 532 days either with or without addition of 13 C-isotopically different plant residue. Total C mineralization from the BC-rich Anthrosols with AOM was 25.5% ( P P P P 13 C-enriched microbial culture. The recovery was found to be 21–41% lower ( P