Researchers evaluate impact of warming on soil respiration in different ecosystems

Soil respiration is the result of heterotrophic respiration (Rh) and autotrophic respiration (Ra), accounting for about 50%–75% of the total ecosystem respiration on land, which is crucial for the global carbon cycle and plays an indispensable role in biogeochemical models. With increasing global warming, understanding the response of forest soil Rh and Ra to warming is important for predicting the global carbon cycle.