Forest soils host a plethora of organisms contributing directly or indirectly to nutrient cycling and the maintenance of soil quality, which is critical to sustainable forest management. In forest ecosystems, the interactions between trees and soil microorganisms span the whole range of symbioses from highly beneficial mutualisms to fierce resource competition. Symbiotic and free-living microbes play an essential role in decomposition processes and nutrient turnover, yet many effects of forest dynamics on soil microbial functioning remain largely unexplored. As forest dynamics themselves undergo major shifts in our rapidly changing world, the ramifications for the soil microbiome and soil quality become an ever more urgent issue. Novel technologies together with the critical rethinking of traditional forest management practices hold promise for reducing management and climate change impacts and for promoting adaptive capacity. In addition, this widespread trend may facilitate efforts to preserve and restore soil health and provide new avenues for safeguarding soil-related ecosystem services.
Healthy soils support productive and resilient forests. However, worldwide soils are degrading at an alarming rate as a result of unsustainable management practices, land-use and climate change, which imperils forest ecosystem functioning and regeneration. This worrying development has been acknowledged by policy-makers and is strongly stressed in the latest European Union's Forest Strategy for 2030. The Research Topic will provide a comprehensive overview about the complex interactions between forest dynamics and the soil microbiome and how these are influenced by traditional and modern management practices and environmental change. The contributions to this special issue will highlight future research needs and provide guidance for practitioners confronted with the challenge to reconcile sustainability, productivity, and profitability of forest systems in a rapidly changing world.
Related themes:
- Soil biology and health
- Soil microbial community
- Forest management
- Soil conservation
- Climate change
- Gap dynamics
- Soil nutrient cycling
- Soil trace gas emissions
- Soil ageing and degradation
- Deforestation, Afforestation, Reforestation.
Forest soils host a plethora of organisms contributing directly or indirectly to nutrient cycling and the maintenance of soil quality, which is critical to sustainable forest management. In forest ecosystems, the interactions between trees and soil microorganisms span the whole range of symbioses from highly beneficial mutualisms to fierce resource competition. Symbiotic and free-living microbes play an essential role in decomposition processes and nutrient turnover, yet many effects of forest dynamics on soil microbial functioning remain largely unexplored. As forest dynamics themselves undergo major shifts in our rapidly changing world, the ramifications for the soil microbiome and soil quality become an ever more urgent issue. Novel technologies together with the critical rethinking of traditional forest management practices hold promise for reducing management and climate change impacts and for promoting adaptive capacity. In addition, this widespread trend may facilitate efforts to preserve and restore soil health and provide new avenues for safeguarding soil-related ecosystem services.
Healthy soils support productive and resilient forests. However, worldwide soils are degrading at an alarming rate as a result of unsustainable management practices, land-use and climate change, which imperils forest ecosystem functioning and regeneration. This worrying development has been acknowledged by policy-makers and is strongly stressed in the latest European Union's Forest Strategy for 2030. The Research Topic will provide a comprehensive overview about the complex interactions between forest dynamics and the soil microbiome and how these are influenced by traditional and modern management practices and environmental change. The contributions to this special issue will highlight future research needs and provide guidance for practitioners confronted with the challenge to reconcile sustainability, productivity, and profitability of forest systems in a rapidly changing world.
Related themes:
- Soil biology and health
- Soil microbial community
- Forest management
- Soil conservation
- Climate change
- Gap dynamics
- Soil nutrient cycling
- Soil trace gas emissions
- Soil ageing and degradation
- Deforestation, Afforestation, Reforestation.
