Warming induces unexpectedly high soil respiration in a wet tropical forest

Tana E. Wood (), Colin Tucker, Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez, M. Isabel Loza, Iana F. Grullón-Penkova, Molly A. Cavaleri, Christine S. O’Connell and Sasha C. Reed
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Tana E. Wood: USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry
Colin Tucker: Southwest Biological Science Center
Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez: University of Vermont
M. Isabel Loza: Morton Arboretum
Iana F. Grullón-Penkova: USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry
Molly A. Cavaleri: Michigan Technological University
Christine S. O’Connell: Macalester College
Sasha C. Reed: Southwest Biological Science Center

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Tropical forests are a dominant regulator of the global carbon cycle, exchanging more carbon dioxide with the atmosphere than any other terrestrial biome. Climate models predict unprecedented climatic warming in tropical regions in the coming decades; however, in situ field warming studies are severely lacking in tropical forests. Here we present results from an in situ warming experiment in Puerto Rico, where soil respiration responses to +4 oC warming were assessed half-hourly for a year. Soil respiration rates were 42-204% higher in warmed relative to ambient plots, representing some of the highest soil respiration rates reported for any terrestrial ecosystem. While respiration rates were significantly higher in the warmed plots, the temperature sensitivity (Q10) was 71.7% lower, pointing to a mechanistic shift. Even with reduced Q10, if observed soil respiration rates persist in a warmer world, the feedback to future climate could be considerably greater than previously predicted or observed.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62065-6

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