DOI: 10.32328/turkjforsci.1862878 ISSN: 2618-6616

Climate change impacts on forest and soil ecosystems: Microbial responses, carbon cycling, and future perspectives

Emre Babur
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Global climate change is profoundly altering the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems by modifying temperature and precipitation regimes, increasing the frequency of extreme climatic events, and disrupting soil biological processes. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the impacts of climate change on forest and soil ecosystems, with particular emphasis on soil microbial communities, microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Relevant findings from recent international studies, together with regional observations and climate projections for Türkiye and the Mediterranean Basin, were critically evaluated to identify current knowledge and future research priorities. The reviewed evidence indicates that rising temperatures, prolonged drought, and altered precipitation patterns modify soil moisture, pH, organic carbon inputs, and nutrient availability, resulting in substantial changes in microbial diversity, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. Climate-induced disturbances, including wildfires, pest outbreaks, and vegetation shifts, further accelerate carbon losses and reduce ecosystem resilience, particularly in Mediterranean forests that are highly vulnerable to environmental stress. The review also highlights that microbial responses differ among forest types according to vegetation characteristics, stand age, soil properties, and topographic conditions. Overall, maintaining soil microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning will be essential for sustaining forest productivity and carbon storage under future climate scenarios. Long-term, multidisciplinary studies integrating climatic, ecological, and soil biological processes are therefore required to improve predictions and support adaptive forest management strategies.

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