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Abstract Numerical models are crucial to understand and/or predict past and future soil organic carbon dynamics. For those models aiming at prediction, validation is a critical step to gain confidence in projections. With a comprehensive review of ~250 models, we assess how models are validated depending on their objectives and features, discuss how validation of predictive models can be improved. We find a critical lack of independent validation using observed time series. Conducting such validations should be a priority to improve the model reliability. Approximately 60% of the models we analysed are not designed for predictions, but rather for conceptual understanding of soil processes. These models provide important insights by identifying key processes and alternative formalisms that can be relevant for predictive models. We argue that combining independent validation based on observed time series and improved information flow between predictive and conceptual models will increase reliability in predictions. 

ABSTRACT The importance of biota to soil formation and landscape development is widely recognized. As biotic complexity increases during early succession via colonization by soil microbes followed by vascular plants, effects of biota on mineral weathering and soil formation become more complex. Knowledge of the interactions among groups of organisms and environmental conditions will enable us to better understand landscape evolution. Here, we used experimental columns of unweathered granular basalt to investigate how early successional soil microbes, vascular plants (alfalfa;Medicago sativa), and soil moisture interact to affect both plant performance and mineral weathering. We found that the presence of soil microbes reduced plant growth rates, total biomass, and survival, which suggests that plants and microbes were competing for nutrients in this environment. However, we also found considerable genotype‐specific variation in plant–microbial interactions, which underscores the importance of within‐species genetic variation on biotic interactions. We also found that the presence of vascular plants reduced variability in pH and electrical conductivity, suggesting that plants may homogenize weathering reactions across the soil column. We also show that there is heterogeneity in the abiotic conditions in which microbes, plants, or their combination have the strongest effect on weathering, and that many of these relationships are sensitive to soil moisture. Our findings highlight the importance of interdependent effects of environmental and biotic factors on weathering during initial landscape formation.