Nature- Noë et al. (2023): Soil organic carbon models need independent time-series validation for reliable prediction
Julia Le Noë, Stefano Manzoni, Rose Abramoff, Tobias Bölscher, Elisa Bruni, Rémi Cardinael, Philippe Ciais, Claire Chenu, Hugues Clivot, Delphine Derrien, Fabien Ferchaud, Patricia Garnier, Daniel Goll, Gwenaëlle Lashermes, Manuel Martin, Daniel Rasse, Frédéric Rees, Julien Sainte-Marie, Elodie Salmon, Marcus Schiedung, Josh Schimel, William Wieder, Samuel Abiven, Pierre Barré, Lauric Cécillon, Bertrand Guenet IN: Communications Earth & Environment 4, 158, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00830-5
Numerical models are crucial to understand and/or predict past and future soil organic carbon dynamics. For those models aiming at prediction, validation is a critical step to gain confidence in projections. With a comprehensive review of ~250 models, the authors assess how models are validated depending on their objectives and features, discuss how validation of predictive models can be improved.