Carbon Materials Advancing Microorganisms in Driving Soil Organic Carbon Regulation

Carbon emission from soil is not only one of the major sources of greenhouse gases but also threatens biological diversity,agricultural productivity,and food security.Regulation and control of the soil carbon pool are political practices in many countries around the globe.Carbon pool management in engineering sense is much bigger and beyond laws and monitoring,as it has to contain proactive elements to restore active c arbon.Biogeochemistry teaches us that soil microorganisms are crucial to manage the carbon content efctivelye Adding carbon materials to soil is thereby not directly sequestration,as interaction of appropriately designed materials with the soil microbiome can result in both:metabolization and thereby nonsustainable use of the added carbon,or-more favorably-a biological amplifcation of human efforts and sequestration of extra CO,by microbial growth.We review here potential approaches to govern soil arbon,with a special focus set on the emerging practice of adding manufactured carbon materials to control soil carbon and its biological dynamiss.Notably,research on so called"biochar"is already relatively mature,while the role of artifidial humic substance(A-HS)in microbial carbon sequestration is still in the developing stage.However,it is shown that the preparation and application of A-HS are large biological levers,as they directly interact with the envir onment and community building of the biological soil system.We believe that A HS can play a central role in stabilzing carbon pools in soil.