Nature – Maxwell et al. (2024): Annual grass invasions and wildfire deplete ecosystem carbon storage by >50% to resistant base levels
Toby M. Maxwell, Harold E. Quicke, Samuel J. Price, Matthew J. Germino IN: Communications Earth & Environment, 5, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01795-9
Dryland soils are massive carbon reservoirs that are increasingly impacted by species invasions and altered fire regimes, including the exotic-grass-fire cycle in the extensive sagebrush steppe of North America. Direct measurement of total carbon in 1174 samples from landscapes of this region that differed in invasion and wildfire history was taken to assess carbon loss.