UPTAKE Science Webinar: The Fragile Sink: Reconceptualizing Soil Carbon Stabilization and Its Vulnerability under Global Change

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The Fragile Sink: Reconceptualizing Soil Carbon Stabilization and Its Vulnerability under Global Change

Organized by the University of Aberdeen, this webinar will explore emerging scientific perspectives on soil carbon sequestration (SCseq) and its role in climate change mitigation. While increasing soil carbon stocks is widely promoted as a strategy to remove atmospheric CO₂, recent research suggests that carbon accumulation does not necessarily guarantee long- term persistence in soils.

The webinar will introduce the “fragile sink” framework, which reconceptualizes soil carbon stabilization as a dynamic and conditional process rather than permanent storage. Drawing on recent advances in microbial ecology, mineral biogeochemistry and nutrient stoichiometry, the talk will examine how interactions between microbial metabolism, mineral protection mechanisms, and nutrient constraints regulate soil carbon persistence.

Participants will also learn how global change drivers, such as warming, elevated
CO₂, nutrient enrichment, and land-use disturbances, can accelerate internal carbon turnover. These processes may create soils that appear to store more carbon but are increasingly vulnerable to rapid carbon loss.

The webinar will discuss vulnerability frontiers where stabilization mechanisms break down, as well as the challenges of restoring stable carbon pools due to kinetic and structural constraints. Finally, the session will highlight the need to move beyond stock-based carbon accounting toward process-based strategies for protecting slow-cycling soil carbon pools.

This webinar will be particularly relevant for PhD students, researchers, modelers,
and practitioners working in soil science, climate mitigation, ecosystem modelling,
and sustainable land management.

:spiral_calendar:: May 19, 2026

:one_o_clock: 12:00 noon - 13:00 pm CET

Register here.

Webinar Programme:

12:00 noon – 12:05 pm Introduction Dr. Mohamed Abdalla, Aberdeen University
12:05 pm - 12:45 pm Speaker: Dr. Muhammad Ansar Farooq, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Pakistan
12:45 pm - 13:00 pm Q&A Session Moderator: Prof. Pete Smith, Aberdeen University
13:00 pm Wrap up and closing Dr. Mohamed Abdalla, Aberdeen University

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During the webinar, the session focused on how soil carbon stabilization should be reconceptualized in light of recent scientific evidence, and what this means for climate change mitigation strategies. The discussion examined the mechanisms controlling soil carbon persistence, the risks posed by global change drivers, and introduced a new conceptual framework: the “fragile sink” that challenges traditional assumptions about soil carbon storage.

Key takeaways:

  • Soil carbon stocks are more dynamic and vulnerable than traditionally assumed: carbon accumulation does not guarantee long-term persistence, and soils that appear to store more carbon may in fact be increasingly fragile.
  • Soil carbon stability depends on multiple interacting mechanisms, including microbial activity, mineral interactions, stoichiometric balance, and physical protection (none of which can be considered in isolation).
  • Global change drivers such as warming, elevated CO₂, nutrient enrichment, and land-use disturbance can accelerate internal carbon turnover and weaken these protective mechanisms, creating soils that are structurally vulnerable to rapid carbon loss.
  • A central conceptual shift proposed during the session was the move from a focus on “carbon formation” to “carbon defence”: protecting existing slow-cycling carbon pools may be more effective for climate mitigation than solely increasing carbon inputs.
  • The session also highlighted vulnerability frontiers. Thresholds where stabilization mechanisms break down and the significant challenges involved in restoring stable carbon pools due to kinetic and structural constraints.
  • From a research and modelling perspective, the discussion underscored the need to move beyond stock-based carbon accounting toward process-based strategies that capture how soil carbon is maintained, lost, or restored over time.
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Hi,
Was the recorded, and if yes is the recording available and where? Also, is it possible to have a copy of the presentation.
Regards,
António Martins