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Accurately quantifying evapotranspiration (ET) is essential for modelling regional-scale ecosystem water balances. This study assembled an ET data set estimated from eddy flux and sapflow measurements for 13 ecosystems across a large climatic and management gradient from the United States, China, and Australia. Our objectives were to determine the relationships among monthly measured actual ET (ET), calculated FAO-56 grass reference ET (ETo), measured precipitation (P), and leaf area index (LAI)—one associated key parameter of ecosystem structure. Results showed that the growing season ET from wet forests was generally higher than ETo while those from grasslands or woodlands in the arid and semi-arid regions were lower than ETo. Second, growing season ET was found to be converged to within š10% of P for most of the ecosystems examined. Therefore, our study suggested that soil water …