Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems

This research paper examines how the depth of soil collar insertion affects the measurement of soil CO2 efflux across three different ecosystems, finding that collar insertion typically underestimates total soil respiration by severing surface roots.

• The insertion of soil collars by only a few centimetres reduces total soil CO2 efflux across all three studied ecosystems by an average of 15%, with some instances reaching reductions of 30–50%. This reduction is directly proportional to the amount of fine roots that are cut during the process.
• The impact of collar insertion varies by ecosystem; the greatest reduction in CO2 efflux occurred in the shallow-rooted peatland system, while the least reduction was observed in the deep-rooted grassland.
• The drivers of CO2 flux variation differ by ecosystem: in the forest and grassland, soil temperatures primarily explained deep-collar (heterotrophic) variation and were unrelated to the root-derived (autotrophic) component, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in the peatland site.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2011). Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems. https://www.sei.org/publications/soil-respiration-implications-of-the-plant-soil-continuum-and-respiration-chamber-collar-insertion-depth-on-measurement-and-modelling-of-soil-co2-efflux-rates-in-three-ecosystems/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems. 2011. https://www.sei.org/publications/soil-respiration-implications-of-the-plant-soil-continuum-and-respiration-chamber-collar-insertion-depth-on-measurement-and-modelling-of-soil-co2-efflux-rates-in-three-ecosystems/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems |date=1 February 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/soil-respiration-implications-of-the-plant-soil-continuum-and-respiration-chamber-collar-insertion-depth-on-measurement-and-modelling-of-soil-co2-efflux-rates-in-three-ecosystems/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2011soil, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Soil respiration: implications of the plant-soil continuum and respiration chamber collar insertion depth on measurement and modelling of soil CO2 efflux rates in three ecosystems}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/soil-respiration-implications-of-the-plant-soil-continuum-and-respiration-chamber-collar-insertion-depth-on-measurement-and-modelling-of-soil-co2-efflux-rates-in-three-ecosystems/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }