Abstract: Soil moisture data derived from the ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset are used to select flash drought events and identify summer flash drought events in Northeast China during 2000-2022. The spatial distribution characteristics during the onset and recovery stages are analyzed. On this basis, the characteristics of the response and recovery of different vegetation types to a flash drought are analyzed by combining them with the MODIS Leaf Area Index, and the spatial pattern of dominant factors is further discussed using the random forest model and partial correlation analysis. The results show significant differences in the response and recovery of different vegetation types to a flash drought in Northeast China. Specifically, forests have the longest response time (28 d) but the shortest recovery time (12 d), whereas grasslands have the shortest response time (10 d) but the longest recovery time (30 d). In addition, the decrease and recovery rates of forests are both faster (0.99/pentad and 1.02/pentad, respectively), whereas those of grasslands are slower (0.28/pentad and 0.41/pentad, respectively). The results of dominant factor analysis suggest that soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) are the main factors affecting the response time of vegetation, the onset rate of flash drought and temperature play a major role in the decrease rate, the recovery time of vegetation is mainly impacted by soil moisture and precipitation, and the recovery rate is primarily influenced by soil moisture and VPD. Moreover, temperature and VPD determine the decrease and recovery rates of more than 50% of forests. In addition, the temperature and VPD of forests are higher than those of grasslands and croplands. Furthermore, soil moisture dominates the response and recovery times of more than 73% of forests, grasslands, and croplands. The results of this study can provide some reference for the possible effects of flash droughts on different ecosystems and deepen the understanding of ecosystem response and recovery after flash droughts.