In order to gain more detailed knowledge of the CO2 concentration gradient in forest soilprofifiles and to better understand the factors that control CO2 concentration along forest soil profifiles,we examined the soil surface CO2 flflux, soil properties and soil profifile CO2 concentration in upright(CK), inverted and mixed soil columns with a depth of 60 cm in two subtropical forests in Chinafrom May 2008 to December 2009. The results showed that: (1) The SOC (soil organic carbon), TN(total N) and microbial biomass were higher in the deeper layers in the inverted soil column, whichwas consistent with an increase in CO2 concentration in the deeper soil layer. Furthermore, thebiogeochemical properties were homogenous among soil layers in the mixed soil column. (2) CO2concentration in the soil profifile increased with depth in CK while soil column inversion signifificantlyintensifified this vertical stratifification as the most active layer (surface soil) was now at the bottom.The stratifification of CO2 concentration along the soil profifile in the mixed soil column was similarto that in CK but it was not intensifified after soil was mixed. (3) The soil surface CO2 flflux did notsignifificantly change after the soil column was inverted. The surface CO2 flflux rate of the mixedsoil column was higher compared to that of the inverted soil column but was not signifificantlydifferent from CK. Our results indicated that the profifile soil CO2 production was jointly controlled bysoil properties related to CO2 production (e.g., SOC content and soil microbial biomass) and thoserelated to gas diffusion (e.g., soil bulk density and gas molecular weight), but the soil surface CO2flflux was mainly determined by soil surface temperature and may be affected by the intensity ofsoil disturbance.