Dryland ecosystems, covering >40% of the global land surface, play a dominant role in driving the interannual variability and trend in the terrestrial carbon sink. Anthropogenic climate change through elevated temperatures, increased extreme events, invasion by exotic plants, and frequent wildfires is driving rapid changes in drylands with significant yet relatively unknown net impacts on carbon cycling. Our understanding of dryland carbon cycling and its response to change lags behind other biomes due to its unique structural and functional diversity, including extensive photosynthetic soil (i.e., biocrusts); rapid pulse responses to rainfall events that require frequent observations; and limited long-term observational sites and experiments. Our session aims to synthesize diverse research and perspectives on dryland biogeochemistry, constructing a contemporary understanding of dryland carbon cycling and its responses to climate change. We invite submissions encompassing all aspects of dryland carbon cycling using observational, experimental, and/or modeling approaches from plot to global scale.