Decomposition of Organic Matter by Soil Microorganisms in Terrestrial Carbon Cycling and Its Influence Factors

Soil microorganism is critical factor for organic matter decomposition, and it plays an important role in terrestrial carbon cycling.The activities of microorganisms are influenced by properties of organic matter and environmental factors. In this article, the driving function of soil microorganism was reviewed in terrestrial carbon cycling. The decomposition rate of soil organic matter was controlled by both the intrinsic factors, such as chemical and physical properties of organic matter, and the extrinsic factors, including abiotic, such as temperatures, moisture contents, clay contents, pH, Eh, et al., and biotic factors. Due to land use and land cover change or climate warming, soil microbial activities were influenced significantly which would lead to a mass of CO_2 released from soil. It was suggested about the relationship of terrestrial carbon cycling and soil microbial driving mechanism in future research.