## 1 Introduction  
The soil-to-atmosphere CO\({}_{2}\) efflux constitutes a large part of the terrestrial C cycle and is the second-largest cause of terrestrial carbon flux [1, 2]. The soil CO\({}_{2}\) efflux is defined as total soil respiration because it is mainly produced by underground respiration [3]. Total soil respiration is the sum of autotrophic respiration by plant roots and heterotrophic respiration by soil microbes and organisms [4, 5], with the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration being 0.54, 0.41, 0.56, 0.22, and 0.50 for the boreal evergreen needleleaf, temperate deciduous broadleaf, temperate evergreen needleleaf, temperate evergreen broadleaf forests, respectively [6]. Soil respiration is an important component of the ecosystem-scale C cycle [3; 6; 7]. In forests, Net Primary Production (NPP) is estimated to be the difference between Gross Primary Production (GPP) and autotrophic respiration [3; 8]. Therefore, soil respiration is regarded as a key variable that allows the analysis of forests from the point of view of their growth as well as their responses to climate change [6; 8]. Respiratory activity of soils is also a decisive process in the C cycle because soils can store carbon for longer periods compared with foliage and fine roots [9]. Soil temperature and soil moisture seem be the main drivers of temporal variation in total soil respiration and its components [8; 10; 11; 12]. Therefore, seasonal microclimatic changes in the soil must play an important role in soil functioning [13]. Higher temperatures are often associated with higher rates of soil respiration, both by accelerating rates of C cycling via autotrophic respiration and providing positive feedback through heterotrophic respiration [14]. However, the complex interactions between soil temperature and soil moisture are still poorly understood [12]. Soil CO\({}_{2}\) efflux is positively correlated with the near-surface soil temperature and is most commonly modeled using the Arrhenius function [15; 16]. This exponential function is commonly applied to calculate the temperature sensitivity (Q\({}_{10}\)) as an indicator of the soil respiration rate [10; 17; 18]. Chamber-based measurements are often used to measure the total soil respiration by scaling-up point measurements to stand or whole-tree scales [19]. In fact, belowground measurements related to the C cycle as functions of autotrophic and heterotrophic components are difficult and expensive to carry out, while measuring the total soil respiration to estimate soil activity is straightforward and commonly performed [4]. On a larger scale, total soil respiration varies between ecosystems, and different plant communities frequently show different rates of soil respiration [6]. The type of vegetation affects the soil respiration not only because of its influence on the microclimate and the structure of the soil but also through the amount of litter deposited in the soil and the root activity [20]. As a consequence, previous studies have found a positive correlation between forest productivity and soil respiration [6; 21; 22]. Studies focusing on soil CO\({}_{2}\) efflux are necessary because climate warming could alter the current forest species composition and require adaptation due to changes in soil conditions such as moisture, temperature regime, and thus soil respiration. To evaluate climate change effects on CO\({}_{2}\) flux at the ecosystem level, it is critical to understand the responses of each site [23]. In this sense, recent studies have investigated the role of temperate forest soils in C cycling [5; 7; 16], but there is still a need to better understand soil functioning in arid and semi-arid woodlands (\"drylands\"), which are understudied ecosystems. Arid and semi-arid areas cover approximately 47% of the earth's surface, accounting for 4357 Mha of the global forest cover [24].