“…Previous studies have focused on identifying the main factors driving R S under natural conditions, and the effects of management on belowground characteristics and R S . We have learned that R S is influenced by complex interactions among physical (e.g., soil temperature and moisture; Lloyd and Taylor, 1994;Rustad et al, 2000), chemical (e.g., soil pH, soil carbon content, and nutrient availability; Ekblad and Nordgren, 2002;Savin et al, 2001), and biological (e.g., type and activity of soil microorganisms, fine root biomass, and vegetation types; Johnston et al, 2004) factors. Among those factors, soil temperature and moisture were traditionally considered to be the most important factors influencing soil respiration, but recent studies suggest that influence of other factors (e.g., litter depth) could overrule their effect in natural (e.g.…”