Large‐scale importance of microbial carbon use efficiency and necromass to soil organic carbon

Optimal methods for incorporating soil microbial mechanisms of carbon (C) cycling into Earth system models (ESMs) are still under debate. Specifically, whether soil microbial physiology parameters and residual materials are important to soil organic C (SOC) content is still unclear. Here, we explored the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on SOC content based on a survey of soils from 16 locations along a ~4000 km forest transect in eastern...