Erosion of upland hillslope soil organic carbon: Coupling field measurements with a sediment transport model

Little is known about the role of vegetated hillslope sediment transport in the soil C cycle and soil‐atmosphere C exchange. We combined a hillslope sediment transport model with empirical soil C measurements to quantify the erosion and temporal storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) within two grasslands in central California. The sites have contrasting erosional mechanisms: biological perturbation (Tennessee Valley (TV)) versus clay‐rich soil creep (Black Diamond (BD)). The average SOC erosion rates from convex slopes were 1.4–2.7 g C m−2 yr−1 at TV and 5–8 g C m−2 yr−1 at BD, values that are