Seasonality in soil temperature may drive the seasonal dynamics of carbonate‐derived CO2 efflux in a calcareous soil

Carbonates in soils may act as a potential source of CO2 efflux from calcareous soils to the atmosphere. However, its seasonal dynamics and relationships with soil temperature or soil moisture are not well‐understood. A 5‐yr warming experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of symmetric (all season) and asymmetric (seasonal) warming on soil organic fraction (SOC)‐derived efflux and carbonate‐derived CO2 efflux (partitioned by δ13C signature) from a calcareous soil in the karst region of southwest China. In region where precipitation mostly falls during summer, an average of 2.0°C warming under both symmetric and asymmetric warming scenarios produced 6–34% and 11–14% increases in the SOC‐derived efflux and carbonate‐derived efflux, respectively. The SOC‐derived efflux in the symmetric warming scenario was 1.6 times that of the asymmetric warming scenarios, but no changes were found for the carbonate‐derived efflux. The SOC‐derived efflux was positively correlated with both soil temperature and soil moisture, suggesting an entailment with biotic processes. In contrast, the carbonate‐derived efflux was positively correlated with soil temperature, but was poorly correlated with soil moisture. Thus, the seasonal dynamics of the carbonate‐derived efflux in calcareous soils were likely driven by abiotic processes.