Abstract:Soil CO2 efflux in forest ecosystems during dormant season is one of the key components of the forest ecosystem carbon balance. Little work has been done to quantify soil CO2 effluxes in most forests in the special time in China because of the difficulty in taking measurements. Soil respiration in a natural secondary Pinus tabulaeformis forest at Huoditang in the Qinling Mountains was measured from October to December in 2006 by means of open-path dynamic chamber technique. Relationships between soil respiration rate (Rs) and soil mean temperature (SMT), Rs and soil mean volumetric moisture content (SMVC) in different depth (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm) were examined in the current study. We found that (1) there were tremendous temporal and spatial variations in Rs with coefficients of variation of Rs at same observation site (upper-part, middle and under-part) of 48.38%, 82.51% and 81.88% in October, November and December respectively; (2) Fc (soil diurnal mean respiration rate) and SDMT (soil diurnal mean temperature) were significantly correlated with an exponent relationship when SDMT>8.5 ℃ for both soil depths (0-5 cm and 5-10 cm ) examined. The temperature sensitivity of soil respiration, known as the Q10 value, was 1.297 and 1.323 respectively in depth of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm in soil; (3) relationship between Rs and SMVC was complex in depth of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm in soil; (4) soil CO2 effluxes from October to December in 2006 in the experimental area was (977.37±88.43)-(997.19±80.73) gCm-2(p=0005).