Abstract: From January 2011 to January 2012, a monitoring was made on the soil respiration rate and its major affecting environmental factors along a gradient of water table (low, medium and high) in a reclaimed tidal wetland at the Dongtan of Chongming Island in the Yangtze Estuary of China. The annual soil respiration rate in the wetland with low, medium and high water table was 0.75-11.57, 0.70-12.61, and 0.83-6.67 μmol·m^-2·s^-1, respectively. The soil respiration rate was the maximum in July and the minimum in January. The soil temperature in 0-5 cm layer was the key microclimate factor driving the soil respiration across the three gradients, which could explain more than 70% of the seasonal variation of soil respiration in the reclaimed tidal wetland by fitting an exponential model. No significant difference was observed in the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q₁₀ value) among the three gradients. The lowest soil respiration rate in the wetland with high water table was probably due to the lower soil temperature and the higher soil volumetric water content, whereas the higher soil respiration rate in the wetland with medium water table than with low water table could be caused by the lower soil electricity conductivity and bulk density and the higher aboveground biomass and live fine root density. To appropriately manipulate the water table in the reclaimed tidal wetland could decrease soil respiration rate and enhance the carbon sink function of this degraded wetland.