Glomalin is Key to Locking up Soil Carbon

摘要

Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2008)--A soil constituent known as glomalin provides a secure vault for the world's soil carbon. That according to Kristine Nichols, a microbiologist at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Northern Great Plains ResearchLaboratory in Mandan, N.D. Glomalin is a sticky substance secreted by threadlike fungal structures called hyphae that funnel nutrients and water to plant roots. Glomalin acts like little globs of chewing gum on strings or strands of plant roots and the fungal hyphae. Into this sticky tring bagfall the sand, silt and clay particles that make up soil, along with plant debris and other carbon-containing organic matter. The sand, silt and clay stick to the glomalin, starting aggregate formation, a major step in soil creation.