<div><p>In boreal forests, fire is an important part of the ecosystem that greatly influences soil respiration, which in turn affects the carbon balance. Wildfire can have a significant effect on soil respiration and it depends on the fire severity and environmental factors (soil temperature and snow water equivalent) after fire disturbance. In this study, we quantified post-fire soil respiration during the non-growing season (from November to April) in a <i>Larix gmelinii</i> forest in Daxing'an Mountains of China. Soil respiration was measured in the snow-covered and snow-free conditions with varying degrees of natural burn severity forests. We found that soil respiration decreases as burn severity increases. The estimated annual C efflux also decreased with increased burn severity. Soil respiration during the non-growing season approximately accounted for 4%–5% of the annual C efflux in all site types. Soil temperature (at 5 cm depth) was the predominant determinant of non-growing season soil respiration change in this area. Soil temperature and snow water equivalent could explain 73%–79% of the soil respiration variability in winter snow-covering period (November to March). Mean spring freeze–thaw cycle (FTC) period (April) soil respiration contributed 63% of the non-growing season C efflux. Our finding is key for understanding and predicting the potential change in the response of boreal forest ecosystems to fire disturbance under future climate change.</p></div
