1. Soil carbon relations - an overview Werner L. Kutsch, Michael Bahn and Andreas Heinemeyer; 2. Field measurements of soil respiration: principles and constraints, potentials and limitations of different methods J. Pumpanen, B. Longdoz and Werner L. Kutsch; 3. Experimental design: scaling up in time and space, and its statistical considerations J.-A. Subke, A. Heinemeyer and M. Reichstein; 4. Determination of soil carbon stocks and changes Mirco Rodeghiero, Andreas Heinemeyer, Marion Schrumpf and Pat Bellamy; 5. Litter decomposition: concepts, methods and future perspectives M. Francesca Cotrufo, Ilaria Del Galdo and Daniela Piermatteo; 6. Characterization of soil organic matter Karolien Denef, Alain F. Plante and Johan Six; 7. Respiration from roots and the mycorrhizosphere Fernando E. Moyano, Owen K. Atkin, Michael Bahn, Dan Bruhn, Andrew J. Burton, Andreas Heinemeyer, Werner L. Kutsch and Gerhard Wieser; 8. Separating autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration: lessons learned from trenching and related root exclusion experiments Daniel Epron; 9. Measuring soil microbial parameters relevant for soil carbon fluxes Werner L. Kutsch, Joshua Schimel and Karolien Denef; 10. Trophic interactions and their implications for soil C fluxes Edward Ayres, Diana H. Wall and Richard D. Bardgett; 11. Semi-empirical modelling of the response of soil respiration to environmental factors in laboratory and field conditions; 12. Modelling soil carbon dynamics Pete Falloon and Pete Smith; 13. The role of soils in the Kyoto Protocol Pete Smith, Pete Falloon and Werner L. Kutsch; 14. Synthesis: emerging issues and challenges for an integrated understanding of soil carbon fluxes M. Bahn, W. L. Kutsch and A. Heinemeyer; 15. Towards a standardised protocol for the measurement of soil CO2 efflux M. Bahn, W. Kutsch, A. Heinemeyer and I. A. Janssens.