Louis A. Schipper

We commend Filimonenko and Kuzyakov (2025) for addressing the complex issue of identifying rate-limiting steps in soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. Reconciling the biotic and abiotic processes governing SOM transformation is essential for predicting soil carbon losses under warming. However, three assumptions in their analysis require reconsideration to ensure accurate interpretation.

Introduction Global warming is expected to alter soil biodiversity and its associated ecosystem functioning and stability (Campbell et al. 2009, Schwarz et al. 2017, O'Gorman et al. 2019, Barnes et al. 2024). Soil biodiversity plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem processes, such as decomposition and nutrient cycling, thereby supporting ecosystem services such as food production, water regulation, waste decomposition and carbon sequestration (Bardgett and van der Putten 2014, Wagg et al.

Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data Availability Statement All data are provided in the and are also openly available at Figshare: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30396862. Supporting Information Filename Description gcb70605-sup-0001-FiguresS1.docxWord 2007 document , 488 KB Figure S1: Square root-transformed bacterial growth rate at different temperatures, used to calculate (Equation 1).