Long-term fertilization enhances soil carbon stability by increasing the ratio of passive carbon: evidence from four typical croplands

Aims Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in improving soil quality, however, how long-term fertilization influences SOC and contrasting active C (AC) and passive C (PC) pools at large scale remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of long-term fertilization on SOC, including AC and PC, across four typical croplands in China and to explore the potential relationships and mechanisms. Methods We assessed the effect of chemical fertilizer and manure amendment (standard rate and 1.5 × standard rate of inorganic fertilizer (NPK) with or without manure (M), with a Control for comparison) at three soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm) on SOC, AC and PC. Results We found that SOC, AC and PC increased in the order NPK