highly significantp < 0.001
CO 2 emission in the form of ecosystem respiration (R eco ) increased exponentially as ST increased; ST-R eco relationship followed an exponential function and was highly significant ( p < 0.001) and positive with R 2 values of 0.68, 0.63, 0.80 and 0.80 respectively in CT, CTS, NT and NTS while SWC-R eco relationship was best described by a power function and also showed highly significant ( p < 0.001) positive correlations with R 2 values of 0.06, 0.10, 0.14 and 0.07 respectively in CT, CTS, NT and NTS.