Bamboo as a Carbon Sink: Belowground Processes Governing Long-Term Carbon Stabilization and Regulation

Against the backdrop of global mitigation targets and carbon-neutrality commitments, the identification, quantification, and enhancement of terrestrial carbon sinks have become a central challenge in ecology and resource management. Bamboo, a woody grass characterized by rapid growth and strong regenerative capacity, is often assessed through aboveground biomass production and harvest cycles. However, accumulating evidence demonstrates that the persistence of bamboo carbon sinks depends largely on belowground pathways: the form and tempo of carbon inputs to soils, microbial processing and transformation of labile substrates, and the extent to which carbon is physically and chemically protected and thereby retained over long timescales. The extensive rhizome–root network in bamboo forests not only supports clonal expansion and resource storage but also continuously delivers carbon to soils and reshapes rhizosphere environments, microbial communities, soil structure, and mineral association capacity, collectively governing the formation and stability of soil organic carbon (SOC). Current studies suggest that belowground sequestration in bamboo forests is primarily contributed by microbial necromass carbon (MRC), phytolith-occluded carbon (PhytOC), and root-derived carbon, including coarse-root residues and rhizodeposition. Specifically, MRC contributes 28.7%–42.6% of SOC, far exceeding plant-derived carbon (8.88%–20.8%); PhytOC can persist for 433–1018 years; and root-derived carbon exhibits a stability coefficient 1.5–3.7 times higher than aboveground residues. In this synthesis, we establish a complete mechanistic cascade spanning carbon inputs, microbial transformation, and physicochemical protection that ultimately underpins long-term SOC persistence, and we frame these processes within an aboveground–belowground coupled framework wherein aboveground community attributes regulate the magnitude, quality, and tempo of soil inputs while belowground biotic interactions largely determine stabilization efficiency and long-term sequestration capacity. We further discuss management-relevant pathways and key research priorities to support accurate accounting and sustainable enhancement of bamboo carbon sinks.

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