Abstract:Soil respiration in forest ecosystems is one of the major pathways of C flux in the global C cycle, second only to the gross primary productivity, and is markablely affected by the global change. The review summarized the important role of forest soil respiration in global carbon cycle, its components, its controlling factors, and its response to the global change. Forest soil respiration is the sum of heterotrophic (microbes, soil fauna) and autotrophic (root) respiration. The contribution of each grou...