Hamdi S. auteur aut IRD Moyano F. auteur aut IRD Sall S. auteur aut IRD Bernoux Martial auteur aut IRD Chevallier Tiphaine auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access The temperature sensitivity of soil respiration is a main factor determining the response of global terrestrial soil carbon to global warming and, consequently, its feedback on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A data synthesis was performed to summarize information available in the literature on the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration obtained in laboratory soil incubations and expressed as Q(10). The influence of common experimental variables and methods, i.e. range of incubation temperatures, length of incubation, calculation methods, and amounts of soil organic carbon, was analyzed. We found a small but significant difference between the Q(10), values calculated with different experimental methods as well as time-related trends showing an initial decrease followed by stable values. Q(10) values ranged from 0.5 to over 300 and were negatively correlated with temperature, but only at the range of temperatures below 25 degrees C. A similar dependence of the activation energy (derived from the Arrhenius equation) with temperature was observed. A negative relationship with total organic carbon content of soils was found in forest and grassland ecosystems, with an average decrease in Q(10) of 0.02 mgC g(-1) soil, explaining their slightly lower mean Q(10)s compared to cultivated soils. Because most of the observed variability remained unexplained, we emphasize the need for new approaches in future studies to the problem of understanding the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition. specialized Heterotrophic soil respiration Temperature sensitivity (Q(10)) Laboratory incubation Soil organic carbon Meta-analysis 068 58 115-126 2013 0038-0717 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060808 10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.11.012 0038-0717 [F B010060808] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060808 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2013/05/010060808.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2013-05-31 2017-08-23 fdi:010060808 fre