Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling are central to soil functions such as climate regulation, nutrient supply, water retention, and ecosystem resilience. Management practices strongly influence these processes, shaping the capacity of soils to store carbon, regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and sustain productive ecosystems under increasing environmental pressures.
This joint session focuses on soil C and N cycling and related soil functions and processes, with particular emphasis on two soil domains that remain comparatively understudied: grassland soils and subsoils.
Contributions addressing grassland soils examine how management and restoration practices such as grazing regimes, fertilisation strategies, legumes, and silvopastoral systems, affect soil C sequestration, N cycling, and greenhouse gas emissions, and how these processes respond to broader drivers such as climate variability and grassland degradation.
Studies focusing on subsoils (below ~30 cm or the B-horizon) explore deep soil C and N dynamics, soil physical properties, soil–plant–atmosphere interactions, and the role of subsoils in long-term carbon storage, nutrient and water regulation, and ecosystem resilience. By integrating research across soil depths and land-use systems and managements, this session provides a holistic view of how management influences soil functions relevant to climate change mitigation and sustainable land management.