Forest thinning is a widely used practice in traditional and multiple function forest management. However, the effects of thinning residue treatment on soil respiration in forest are not fully understood. Here, a two-year field experiment quantified the effects of thinning intensity (medium and heavy thinning, 45% and 70% of volume removed, respectively) and the resulting residue treatment (retention and removal) on soil respiration in a subtropical Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation on a thin soil. Both thinning intensity and residue treatment significantly impacted on soil respiration. The control had a relative low mean soil respiration rate of 158 mg CO₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ or 13.9 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Compared with the control, medium thinning with residue retained (MTR1) increased annual cumulative soil respiration by 13% only in the first year, while medium thinning with residue removal (MTR0) did not affect it in the two years. Heavy thinning with residue retention (HTR1) and removal (HTR0) elevated the mean annual cumulative respiration by 32% and 20%, respectively. Besides, there was no difference between MTR1 and HTR0. Soil respiration rate was correlated positively with soil temperature, moisture, and the concentrations of permanganate-oxidizable C and microbial biomass C, and inversely with the concentration of water-soluble organic C. Furthermore, heavy thinning with residue retention decreased the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. Our findings highlight that the response of soil respiration to forest thinning was associated with thinning residue treatment.

森林疏伐是传统和多功能森林经营中广泛使用的做法。然而，间伐残茬处理对森林土壤呼吸的影响尚不完全清楚。在这里，一项为期两年的田间试验量化了间伐强度（中等和重度间伐，分别去除了 45% 和 70% 的体积）以及由此产生的残留物处理（保留和去除）对亚热带杉木人工林土壤呼吸的影响在薄薄的土壤上。间伐强度和残茬处理均显着影响土壤呼吸。对照具有相对较低的平均土壤呼吸速率，为 158 mg CO ₂ m ^-2 h ^-1或 13.9 t ha ^-1 yr ^-1. 与对照相比，留渣中疏（MTR1）仅在第一年增加了13%的年累积土壤呼吸，而去渣中疏（MTR0）在两年内对其没有影响。带有残留物保留 (HTR1) 和去除 (HTR0) 的重度稀释使年平均累积呼吸量分别提高了 32% 和 20%。此外，MTR1 和 HTR0 之间没有区别。土壤呼吸速率与土壤温度、水分、高锰酸盐可氧化碳和微生物生物量碳的浓度呈正相关，与水溶性有机碳的浓度呈负相关。此外，留茬重间伐降低了土壤的温度敏感性呼吸。