Number 18/Life & ecology/Carbon cycling
The Thermal Sensitivity Gap
The quantity
The difference in temperature sensitivity between decomposition and production, expressed as the difference in their Q10 values.
01Why it matters
It predicts whether warming turns a system from sink to source, and unlike the absolute sensitivities it is a small, measurable difference.
02Expected value
Positive but small, of order 0.2 to 0.5, with the system flipping sign where the gap exceeds the carbon input ratio.
03How it would be measured
Incubation and flux measurements across temperature gradients.
04What would refute it
Equal sensitivities would make the gap zero and warming carbon-neutral.