Carbon Dioxide Efflux of Bare Soil as a Function of Soil Temperature and Moisture Content under Weather Conditions of Warm, Temperate, Dry Climate Zone

Abstract

It is difficult to estimate the contribution of individual sources to the total CO2 efflux from soil with vegetation. Long-term experiments with bare soil will provide useful conclusions. In this study, we aimed to mathematize the effect of soil temperature and soil moisture content on bare soil CO2 efflux in a four-season semiarid region to assess the adequacy of different models and to enable future predictions by seasons. We proved that the exponential model adequately described the relationship between the CO2 efflux and the soil temperature. The model calculations showed no significant relationship in the case of an additional quadratic exponential function, while, in the case of the linear model, the homoscedasticity criteria were not met, and the accuracy of the estimation was found to be dependent on the level of CO2 efflux. When the soil moisture content with either an exponential function or power was added to the exponential formula, the models did not provide more accurate results. Our findings confirm that the best-fitting models are dependent on the local environmental conditions, and there are areas in which the moisture content does not significantly affect the CO2 efflux of bare soil. Using trends in historical hourly temperature data in the exponential model, the CO2 emission was estimated to be in the range 772–898 g m−2 y−1 in 2050 in the location we used. Trends in climate change are expected to have considerable effects on the processes that govern the CO2 emissions of soil.