Rezgui F. auteur aut IRD Gharbi F. auteur aut IRD Zribi L. auteur aut IRD Mouillot Florent auteur aut IRD Ourcival J. M. auteur aut IRD Hanchi B. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Little is known about the relationship between soil respiration and biophysical factors in the Tunisian Aleppo pine forest. We conducted our studies in two adjacent forests in Djebel Mansour region with the same micrometeorological conditions, but they differed in soil proprieties. The main goal of this research was to quantify soil respiration and its seasonal variations under two different soil characteristics. Soil respiration measurements were performed between Mai 2008 and July 2009. The magnitude of the soil respiration varied from 0.80 to 6.65 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) in Sidi Ouedet forest (deep soil) and from 0.60 to 5.90 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) in Oued E1 kbir forest (shallow soil). Results showed that soil respiration exhibited a same seasonal pattern in both sites, and it was controlled mainly by the soil moisture. The highest rates of soil respiration were observed in autumn and in spring and the lowest in summer, coinciding with the drought period. In autumn, high rates of soil respiration were observed immediately after rainfall events. Hence, annual soil respiration was higher in the deep soil than in the shallow soil (870.4 g C m(-2) y(-1) vs 492 g C m(-2) y(-1)). As such, soil proprieties (depth, texture and structure) may indirectly drive soil respiration by controlling the soil moisture and site productivity through litter input. specialized soil respiration soil moisture Mediterranean Aleppo pine soil properties TUNISIE ZONE MEDITERRANEENE 082 076 068 14 4 343-356 2016 1589-1623 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010068365 10.15666/aeer/1404_343356 1589-1623 [F B010068365] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010068365 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers17-01/010068365.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2017-01-09 2017-08-23 fdi:010068365 fre