<p>N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> Emissions from soil in terrestrial ecosystems is a crucial component of the global nitrogen (N) cycle. The response of these two gases emissions from forest soil to temperature change and its underlying mechanisms are essential for predicting N cycle to global warming. Despite the warming-induced effects on soil N cycle is considered to be positive in general, our understanding of temperature sensitivity (Q<sub>10</sub>) of N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> emissions is rather limited. We quantified the Q<sub>10</sub> of N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> emissions in forest soils and explored their major driving factors by conducting an incubation experiment using <sup>15</sup>N tracer (Na<sup>15</sup>NO<sub>3</sub>) with soil samples from nineteen forest sites from temperate to tropical zones. The environmental conditions largely varied: mean annual temperature (MAT) ranging from -5.4 to 21.5<sup>o</sup>C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) ranging from 300 to 2449 mm. The soil pH varied between 3.62 to 6.38. We incubated soil samples under an anaerobic condition with temperature from 5 to 35<sup>o</sup>C with an interval of 5<sup>o</sup>C for 12 or 24 hours, respectively. Soil temperature strongly affected the production of N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub>.&#160;N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> production rates showed a positive exponential relation with incubate time and temperature for all forest soils. Our results showed that the Q<sub>10</sub> values ranged from 1.31 to 2.98 for N<sub>2</sub>O emission and 1.69 to 3.83 for N<sub>2</sub> emission, indicating a generally positive feedback of N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> production to warming. Higher Q<sub>10</sub> values for N<sub>2</sub> than N<sub>2</sub>O implies that N<sub>2</sub> emission is more sensitive to temperature increase. The N<sub>2</sub>O/(N<sub>2</sub>O+N<sub>2</sub>) decreased with increasing temperature in fifteen of nineteen forest soils, suggesting that warming accelerates N<sub>2</sub> emission. Strong spatial variation in Q<sub>10</sub> were also observed, with tropical forest soils exhibiting high Q<sub>10</sub> values and relatively low Q<sub>10</sub> in temperate forest soils. This variation is attributed to the inherent differences in N biogeochemical cycling behavior between the microbial communities among sites. Despite soil temperature primarily controls the N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> emissions,&#160;we &#160;explored the effects of other factors such as pH, C/N, DOC and related functional genes. In addition, we partitioned N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> emissions to different microbial processes (e.g., denitrification, co-denitrification and anammox).&#160;The results indicated that denitrification was the main pathway of N<sub>2</sub>O and N<sub>2</sub> production under anaerobic environment and the contribution increased as temperature rise.</p><p>Key words: Temperature sensitivity, N<sub>2</sub>O, N<sub>2</sub>, Forest soil, Nitrogen cycle, Global warming, Denitrification</p>
Correction to: “Global warming: Evidence for asymmetric diurnal temperature change” by Karl et al.