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Here, we conducted large\u2010scale soil samplings across a 3000\u2010km aridity gradient on the Tibetan Plateau to evaluate the contribution of microbial CUE to SOC variation. Microbial CUE increased with increasing aridity, whereas SOC declined, resulting in a weak negative relationship between CUE and SOC along the aridity gradient. This increase in CUE was primarily driven by reduced microbial respiration, while microbial growth remained largely unchanged. By contrast, correlation analyses revealed strong positive relationships between SOC and physicochemical protection, plant diversity and carbon inputs, edaphic properties, and microbial attributes. Random forest and structural equation models further showed that SOC variation was more strongly associated with indicators of physicochemical protection, including mineral\u2010associated organic carbon, clay content, calcium\u2010bound carbon, and microbial residue carbon than with microbial CUE. Together, our findings challenge the view that microbial CUE alone governs SOC accumulation and highlight the importance of stabilization processes in regulating SOC variations across the aridity gradient.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.71138","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T07:22:49Z","timestamp":1790752969000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Physicochemical Protection Outweighs Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency in Regulating Soil Organic Carbon Across an Aridity Gradient"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"32","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0416-3336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junxiao","family":"Pan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xianjin","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement IPSL\u2013LSCE, CEA\/CNRS\/UVSQ\/Universit\u00e9 Paris Saclay, Orme des Merisiers  Gif sur Yvette France"},{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany and Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences  Guangzhou China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3425-7387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinsong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"},{"name":"College of Resources and Environment University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenrui","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiashao","family":"Bai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zijian","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kunwei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Han","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. 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China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8135-2144","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xinyu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"},{"name":"College of Resources and Environment University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2394-2864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shuli","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. China"},{"name":"College of Resources and Environment University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing P.R. 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