Andamento stagionale del flusso di emissione di CO2 dal suolo in risposta al contenuto di umidità all'interno di un agroecosistema mediterraneo

Total soil respiration as the sum of two biotic component, autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration, is influenced by various environmental factor, in particular soil temperature and soil moisture. In arid and semi arid regions, soil moisture is a major driver of soil respiration during periods of drought stress. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of soil moisture on soil CO2 efflux. Measurements were made every two weeks between January 2008 and June 2010 using a portable soil respiration instrument fitted with a soil respiration chamber (IRGA) CIRAS 1 (PP Systems, Hitchin, UK).The Simultaneously with soil respiration measurements, soil temperature (T) and soil volumetric water content (SWC) were measured in the 0–15 cm depth interval. Soil temperature was measured with a Pt 100 probe and soil water content was measured using a time domain reflectometry device (TDR). Mean annual soil CO2 efflux rates were 1124.36 expressed as g C m-2 y-1. It is believed that soil CO2 efflux should be an important instrument to support the stakeholders interested to reduction CO2 emission required to reach Kyoto Protocol objectives.