As a general disturbance in terrestrial ecosystems, fire can have far-reaching consequences on the carbon (C) cycle. Although soil respiration (SR) is important in regulating atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, a general pattern of the response of SR to fire in terrestrial ecosystems remains unclear. In this study, a meta-analysis of 91 studies on fires across 116 global sites was conducted to investigate the effects of fire on SR and its components. The results revealed that the responses of SR and heterotrophic respiration (HR) to fire were dependent on fire severity (low-, moderate-, and high-severity) and types (wildfire and prescribed fire). Specifically, the high- and low-severity fires reduced SR and HR, whereas moderate-severity fires had negligible effects on these parameters. On average, wildfires significantly decreased SR and HR by 13.9% and 18.6%, respectively, across all ecosystems, while prescribed fire reduced SR by 8.4% but did not change HR. In addition, the responses of SR and HR varied with the ecosystem types. Fire decreased SR in all three types of forests (boreal forests: -14.8%, temperate forests: -13.8%, and tropical forests: -28.9%), whereas decreased HR only in boreal and temperate forests (-23.8% and 20.7%, respectively) but not in tropical forests. Moreover, SR decreased directly followed by an increase, whereas HR declined with time after low- and high-severity fires. At a global scale, the responses of SR and HR to fire largely resulted from the changes in soil organic C, dissolved C, microbial biomass C, and belowground biomass, as indicated by the correlation analysis. In addition, the response of SR to fire was negatively affected by the mean annual precipitation in the forests. Overall, our study revealed the mechanisms driving the effects of fire and provided a framework for understanding soil C emissions under intensified fire regimes.

作为陆地生态系统的普遍干扰，火灾会对碳 (C) 循环产生深远的影响。_{尽管土壤呼吸 (SR) 在调节大气 CO 2}方面很重要浓度，SR 对陆地生态系统火灾反应的一般模式仍不清楚。在这项研究中，对全球 116 个地点的 91 项火灾研究进行了荟萃分析，以调查火灾对 SR 及其组成部分的影响。结果表明，SR 和异养呼吸 (HR) 对火的反应取决于火的严重程度（低、中和高）和类型（野火和规定的火）。具体来说，高强度和低强度火灾降低了 SR 和 HR，而中度火灾对这些参数的影响可以忽略不计。平均而言，野火使所有生态系统的 SR 和 HR 分别显着降低 13.9% 和 18.6%，而规定的火灾使 SR 降低 8.4% 但没有改变 HR。此外，SR 和 HR 的响应因生态系统类型而异。火灾降低了所有三种类型森林的 SR（北方森林：-14.8%，温带森林：-13.8%，热带森林：-28.9%），而仅北方和温带森林的 HR 降低（-23.8% 和 20.7%，分别）但不在热带森林中。此外，SR 直接下降然后增加，而 HR 在低火和高火后随时间下降。如相关分析所示，在全球范围内，SR 和 HR 对火灾的响应主要是由土壤有机碳、溶解碳、微生物生物量碳和地下生物量的变化引起的。此外，SR 对火的反应受到森林年平均降水量的负面影响。总的来说，我们的研究揭示了驱动火灾影响的机制，并为理解强化火灾条件下的土壤碳排放提供了一个框架。