Soil respiration is the largest component of ecosystem respiration but little is known about it and its components in parkland systems. We therefore conducted an experiment to estimate the amount of CO 2 respired and to partition it into soil, tree root and crop root contributions in parkland systems in Burkina Faso. Three factors effects were estimated: pruning, species and presence of tree canopy. Pruning showed no significant effect on soil respiration. The soil respiration was significantly higher under Parkia biglobosa (1.54 g CO 2 m-2 h-1 against 0.93 in the open area) than under Vitellaria paradoxa (0.98 g CO 2 m-2 h-1 against 0.52 in the open area). The autotrophic respiration associated with the P. biglobosa system due to sorghum roots was 0.37 g CO 2 m-2 h-1 and due to tree roots was 0.61. For the V. paradoxa system, the figures were 0.13 g CO 2 m-2 h-1 for sorghum roots and 0.46 for tree roots …

Carbon balance, CO2 flux, carbon-sink