SOILS COMPRISE THE LARGEST POOL OF TERRESTRIAL ORGANIC CARBON (C) AND FORESTS COVER ABOUT 30% OF THE EARTH'S TERRESTRIAL SURFACE AND FOREST SOILS ACCOUNT FOR A SIMILAR PROPORTION OF THE GLOBAL TERRESTRIAL POOL OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON (SOC). SOC IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE AND MANY ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (E.G. PLANT PRODUCTIVITY, HYDROLOGIC PROCESS). DISTURBANCES SUCH AS HARVESTING AND FOREST FIRES CAN REMOVE SUBSTANTIAL PORTIONS OF A FOREST'S ABOVEGROUND C STORES; HOWEVER, IN MOST CASES, THESE EXTREME DISTURBANCES HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON MINERAL ASSOCIATED SOC POOLS. VERY FEW STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE MECHANISMS THAT SOC HAS TO RESIST CHANGE OR BE RESILIENT AGAINST CHANGE (I.E. RECOVER C AT RATES SIMILAR TO THOSE LOST). A NEW PARADIGM TO EXPLAIN SOC DYNAMICS IS CURRENTLY EMERGING WHICH WE WILL USE TO ELUCIDATE THE RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE OF SOC USING A WIDELY ESTABLISHED GLOBAL FORESTRY STUDY. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ELUCIDATE THE MECHANISMS THAT IMPART RESILIENCE TO FOREST SOC AFTER EXTREME DISTURBANCES. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT ORGANO-MINERAL COMPLEXES ARE RESISTANT TO DISTURBANCE-INDUCED DEGRADATION AND THAT SOC VULNERABLE TO DISTURBANCE IS READILY REPLACED BY DECAYING ROOTS LEFT AFTER FIRE OR HARVEST. WE WILL UTILIZE 3 DECADES OF ARCHIVED AND NEW DATA AND SAMPLES FROM NORTH AMERICAN AND NEW ZEALAND FOREST BIOMASS HARVESTING STUDIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MINERALOGY, SOC STABILIZATION MECHANISMS, RADIOCARBON AGE, AND BIOMARKERS TO ELUCIDATE MECHANISMS IN SOC DYNAMICS IN DISTURBED AND RECOVERING SYSTEMS. BY MEETING OUR OBJECTIVES, WE WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHICH SOILS ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO LOSSES AND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOP MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT MAINTAIN OR ENHANCE FOREST SOC IN MANAGED SETTINGS.