Abstract: Terrestrial ecosystems provide a variety of ecological services essential to human welfare. Caused by global warming and the alteration in precipitation regime, the frequency and intensity of drought have been remarkably increased, with profound consequences on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. Given the importance of plants and soil microorganisms in biogeochemical cycling and energy flow, an increasing number of studies have been conducted to investigate how drought affects plants and soil microorganisms. However, these studies mainly focused on the drought process, with little attention being paid to the effects of rewatering after drought on plants and soil microorganisms. It has been widely recognized that rewatering after drought not only generates a growth compensation effect on plants, but also facilitates the recovery of terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the effects of rewatering on plants and soil microorganisms is important for mitigating drought effects and is becoming a focus of climate change study. In this paper, were reviewed the effects of drought and rewatering on plants and soil microorganisms from the perspectives of plant growth, physiological traits, and soil microorganisms. We identified problems that currently face the field and proposed future study directions. This review would provide a synthetic account for understanding responses of plants and soil microorganisms to drought and rewatering under climate change and for maintaining the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems and protecting biodiversity.

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