Abstract: Soil respiration, the main pathway for transferring terrestrial carbon pool to atmospheric carbon pool, is profoundly affected by the intensification in global precipitation variability in the context of climate change. Nowadays, variable controlling methods and field manipulation experiments are two main methods widely used to investigate the effects of simulated precipitation changes on soil respiration. Yet, due to the heterogeneity of soil properties, vegetation types, and the magnitude of precipitation change, there is substantial inconsistency in the conclusions of simulated precipitation change effects on soil respiration. Here, we analyzed data from domestic and foreign literature, and examined the effects of simulated precipitation change on soil respiration. Firstly, we described the response pattern of soil respiration to soil moisture fluctuation and pointed out that the magnitude and direction of the response of soil respiration to simulated precipitation change depended on whether soil moisture was optimally conditioned at different precipitation treatments. Second, we summarized the response patterns of soil respiration to symmetric increase and decrease in precipitation, which mainly included symmetric and asymmetric responses (positive and negative asymmetric). Meanwhile, the adaptation of plants and soil microorganisms to drought stress and soil oxygen limitation, as well as the reduction of organic substrates, were the main mechanisms accounting for the shifts of soil respiration response patterns to simulated precipitation change from symmetric to asymmetric responses. Third, we identified a significant effect of ambient climate on soil respiration in response to precipitation treatments as increasing duration of the experimental treatments. In addition, cumulative or buffering effects of ambient climatic conditions on precipitation treatment could affect the sensitivity of soil respiration along precipitation gradient by altering hydrothermal conditions. Finally, to accurately assess the implications of precipitation changes on soil carbon balance processes, we proposed three aspects of future precipitation effects on soil respiration for attention: 1) focusing on the phenomenon of “threshold effects” in the asymmetric response of soil respiration along precipitation gradients; 2) distinguishing the intrinsic mechanisms of autotrophic and heterotrophic components in soil respiration in response to precipitation changes; and 3) focusing on the impacts of intensified precipitation variability on soil respiration in the context of future climate extremes. In conclusion, with the intensified variability in global precipitation patterns, clarifying the response mechanism of soil respiration to precipitation changes is of great significance for accurately predicting and evaluating the alterations of soil carbon cycle processes and carbon balance in the context of global changes.

Key words: soil respiration, precipitation change, climate change, soil moisture