Short-term dynamics and spatial heterogeneity of CO2 emission from the soils of natural and urban ecosystems in the Central Chernozemic Region

A comparative analysis of the spatial-temporal trends in the emission of CO2 from soils of different functional zones of the city of Kursk, a dark gray soil of an oak forest, and a typical steppe chernozem has been performed. The averaged CO2 emission from the urban soils is 25% higher than that from the natural soils (32.1 +/- 17.8 and 17.8 +/- 10.2 g CO2/m(2) daily, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of the CO2 emission is also significantly higher for the urban soils, while variation in temporal dynamics of soil respiration among the studied ecosystems was insignificant.