also respired at a higher rate than the control (w2 times more) immediately following rewetting. Then, after 16 h, an additional exponential increase in respiration occurred (Fig.1), to levels higher than the maximum peak for the 4-days dried soil. From the fitted exponential relationship during this exponential growth-phase, an intrinsic microbial growth rate from respiration (mresp) was estimated to be 0.43 h1. Peak respirationwas found after around 20 h, followed by a rapid decrease, illustrated by the drawn line. After around 27 h, respiration decreased at a lower rate, described by a negative exponential function. Soil respiration in the experiment
where fungal growth was measured matched these patterns (data not shown).