Soil respiration is an important component of terrestrial carbon budget. Its accurate evaluation is es- sential to the study of terrestrial carbon source/sink. Studies on soil respiration at present mostly focus on the temporal variations and the controlling factors of soil respiration, but its spatial variations and controlling factors draw less attention. Moreover, the evaluation models for soil respiration at present include only the effects of water and heat factors, while the biological and soil factors controlling soil respiration and their interactions with water and heat factors have not been considered yet. These models are not able to accurately evaluate soil respiration in different vegetation/terrestrial ecosystems at different temporal and spatial scales. Thus, a general evaluation model for soil respiration (GEMSR) including the interacting meteorological (water and heat factors), soil nutrient and biological factors is suggested in this paper, and the basic procedure developing GEMSR and the research tasks of soil respiration in the future are also discussed. Its accurate evaluation is es- sential to the study of terrestrial carbon source / sink. Studies on soil respiration at present mostly focus on the temporal variations and the controlling factors of soil respiration, but its spatial variations and controlling factors draw less attention. Moreover, the evaluation models for soil respiration at present include only the effects of water and heat factors, while the biological and soil factors controlling soil respiration and their interactions with water and heat factors have not been considered These models are not able to accurately evaluate soil respiration in different vegetation / terrestrial ecosystems at different temporal and spatial scales. Thus, a general evaluation model for soil respiration (GEMSR) includes the interacting meteorological (water and heat factors) and biological factors is suggested in this paper, and the basic procedure dev eloping GEMSR and the research tasks of soil respiration in the future are also discussed.