In regions characterized by arid seasons, such as the Mediterranean basin, soil moisture is a major driver of ecosystem CO 2 efflux during periods of drought stress. Here, a rain event can induce a disproportional respiratory pulse, releasing an amount of CO 2 to the atmosphere that may significantly contribute to the annual ecosystem carbon balance. The mechanisms behind this pulse are unclear, and it is still unknown whether...

Measurements of regional net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were made over a period of 21 days in summer 2002 in the South‐Central part of the Netherlands and extrapolated to an area of 13 000 km 2 using a combination of flux measurements made by a Sky Arrow ERA research aircraft, half‐hourly eddy covariance data from four towers, half‐hourly weather data recorded by three weather stations and detailed information on regional land u...