Millennial-scale hydroclimate control of tropical soil carbon storage

The storage of organic carbon in the terrestrial biosphere directly affects atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide over a wide range of timescales. Within the terrestrial biosphere, the magnitude of carbon storage can vary in response to environmental perturbations such as changing temperature or hydroclimate1, potentially generating feedback on the atmospheric inventory of carbon dioxide. Although temperature controls the storage of soil organic carbon at mid and high latitudes2,3, hydroclimate may be the dominant driver of soil carbon persistence in the tropics4,5; however, the sensitivity of tropical soil carbon turnover to large-scale hydroclimate variability remains poorly understood. Here we show that changes in Indian Summer Monsoon rainfall have controlled the residence time of soil carbon in the Ganges–Brahmaputra basin over the past 18,000 years. Comparison of radiocarbon ages of bulk organic carbon and terrestrial higher-plant biomarkers with co-located palaeohydrological records6 reveals a negative relationship between monsoon rainfall and soil organic carbon stocks on a millennial timescale. Across the deglaciation period, a depletion of basin-wide soil carbon stocks was triggered by increasing rainfall and associated enhanced soil respiration rates. Our results suggest that future hydroclimate changes in tropical regions are likely to accelerate soil carbon destabilization, further increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.