Purpose <p>Climate warming has raised global concern. Straw retention is a common and useful practice for the return of carbon substrates and nutrients to the soil in agroecosystems. This study aimed to explore the effects of different biomass components on soil respiration under long-term warming and straw retention practices.</p> Methods <p>An eight-year warming and straw retention experiment was conducted in a winter wheat–soybean rotation cropland area. Soil respiration, soil temperature and soil moisture were measured. The root biomass, straw biomass, yield, and total biomass were determined at the end of each growing season.</p> Results <p>The results indicated that the soil temperature was the main factor driving the seasonal variation in soil respiration. Both warming and straw retention significantly (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.001) increased soil respiration. The mean soil respiration was 2.26 ± 0.01, 2.99 ± 0.04, 3.11 ± 0.03, and 3.68 ± 0.04 µmol m^− 2 s^− 1 in the control, warming, straw retention, and warming and straw retention plots, respectively, across the eight winter wheat–soybean rotation years. Warming and straw retention also significantly (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05) increased root biomass, straw biomass, yield, and total biomass levels. The mean seasonal soil respiration was significantly (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.001) and positively correlated with root biomass, straw biomass, yield, and total biomass.</p> Conclusion <p>Both warming and straw retention significantly increased soil respiration and crop biomass. In general, warming did not significantly affect the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration across the eight rotation years.</p>