Soil compaction is likely to influence the chemical and biological response of soil to drying and rewetting. Soil samples were collected from a field trial investigating the effects of wheel traffic compaction on soil physical properties, N availability and greenhouse gas emissions. Intact soil cores were incubated at field capacity soil moisture (5 d), then dried gradually (3 d), before rapid rewetting to field capacity and continuously incubating the soils for a further 10 d. Fluxes of CO₂ and N₂O increased markedly following rewetting of dry soil. The CO₂ flux following rewetting of uncompacted soil (1.0 g/cm³) was about 8 times greater than that of compacted (1.5 g/cm³) soil. In contrast the N₂O flux following rewetting was about 10 times greater from compacted than uncompacted soil. The higher CO₂ and N₂O fluxes corresponded with higher levels of DOC and mineral N in uncompacted and compacted soils, respectively.