Soil respiration

Soil respiration is measured using an auto-chamber system. Sixteen soil chambers are used to measure how much CO₂ is emitted by soil respiration, which includes contributions from soil microbes and root growth. Each chamber is equipped with its own soil water content and temperature probes. The chambers close automatically once an hour, at which time the accumulation of CO₂ in the enclosed air space is measured to enable calculation of the rate of soil-to-air CO₂ movement.