We compared the cumulative microbial growth and respiration over the first 125 h of the experiment to examine the influence of rewetting dried soils on the microbial C-use efficiency during this
period (Fig. 4). Rewetting dry soil increased the cumulative respiration during our experiment by about 7 times in the 4-days dried soil, and by about 12 times in the 1-year dried soil. Cumulative
bacterial growth only increased with 80%, while cumulative fungal growth was unaffected in the 4-days dried soil. In the 1-year dried soil both cumulative bacterial and fungal growth decreased, by 40 and 60%, respectively.