Soil porosity in physically separated fractions and its role in SOC protection

Purpose Processes that lead to soil organic carbon (SOC) protection depend on both soil porosity and structure organization, as well as chemical and biological properties. In particular, the soil micro-nano porosity (<30 \u3bcm) regulates microorganism accessibility to the soil pore system and offers surfaces for organic carbon adsorption and intercalation into soil minerals. The aim of this work was to investigate how pore size distribution can selectively protect specific carbon pools in different aggregate size fractions, by considering the effects of long-term application of farmyard manure (FYM) and mineral (Min) fertilization. Materials and methods Macroaggregates (250\u20132000 \u3bcm), microaggregates (53\u2013250 \u3bcm), and silt\u2013clay (