Abstract: Backguound Soil respiration is a core indicator reflecting soil organic carbon turnover rate, nutrient supply potential, and microbial community activity, and it plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem carbon balance. However, the effects of grazing on soil respiration show pronounced regional variation. Methods In this study, we examined an Artemisia ordosica community in the desert steppe of Ningxia and established three grazing treatments—no grazing (NG), light grazing (LG), and heavy grazing (HG)—to systematically analyze the impacts of grazing on soil respiration and its underlying mechanisms.. Results (1) Grazing altered the soil hydrothermal environment. Soil temperature exhibited a unimodal pattern during the growing season, while soil moisture showed the opposite trend. Compared with NG, soil temperature under LG and HG increased by 6.83% and 13.06%, respectively, whereas soil moisture increased by 1.90% and 3.80%. (2) Grazing increased community diversity index, while vegetation cover, height, and aboveground biomass declined significantly with increasing grazing intensity; (3) Grazing significantly increased soil pH, total phosphorus, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, and bulk density, while significantly reduced available phosphorus and available potassium, with HG showing decreases of 43.44% and 37.34% relative to NG. (4) Soil respiration displayed a unimodal seasonal pattern, increasing with grazing intensity during the early and late growing season but showing the opposite trend during the peak season. Annual cumulative soil respiration decreased significantly with grazing intensity, with LG and HG 5.18% and 7.37% lower than NG; (5) Mantel test analysis revealed that soil respiration was not driven by a single factor but jointly regulated by multiple variables. Conclusion This study demonstrates that grazing regulates soil respiration and carbon cycling processes indirectly by modifying soil hydrothermal dynamics and nutrient patterns, which can provide a scientific basis for desert steppe restoration and sustainable grassland management.