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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unraveling the Role of Earthworms in Enhancing Mineral Weathering for CO2 Removal
Published on: November 10, 2023
[Research and prospects for response mechanisms of soil respiration to experimental warming]
Bao Yu Sun1,2, Guang Xuan Han1
1Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China.
Abstract:
Soil respiration (Rs) is the main efflux of carbon pool from soil to atmosphere. Increasing Rs caused by rising temperature can result in significant change in the global carbon balance. Global mean land-surface temperature is predicted to rise by 0.3-4.8 ℃ by the end of 21 century. Therefore, how Rs responds to simulated experimental warming in the natural field is one of the critical issues in global change research. Here, we reviewed the response characteristics of Rs to simulated warming under different temporal and spatial patterns. Experimental warming can increase Rs at the short time scale, but there was no uniform law in the long-term warming experiments, and there were differences among different ecosystems. This paper also reviewed the mechanism underlying the simulated warming response of Rs. Warming can directly affect Rs, and warming can also affect Rs indirectly by affecting the environmental factors (e.g., soil water, soil salt, soil physical and che-mical properties), and the regulation of biological factors (e.g., photosynthesis, litter decomposition). Furthermore, we synthesized the formation mechanism of adaptability of Rs to warming, including adaptability of microbes, roots and enzymes to warming, water restriction, and regulation by excessive nitrogen and the substrate supply. Finally, the future research directions were proposed. The study of micro-ecosystem of rhizosphere, characteristics and mechanism of Rs under asymmetric warming should be strengthened. Also, more attention should be paid to the measurement of Rs in typical phenological periods and typical weather in different seasons. The research network of Rs response to simulated warming should be constructed for networking test.
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