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

Abstract

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, microbial processes, 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, the evidence highlights soil microbial functioning as a key component linking climate stress to forest productivity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Long-term monitoring and multidisciplinary approaches integrating climatic, vegetation, soil, and microbial processes are therefore needed to improve predictions and support adaptive forest and land-management strategies under future climate scenarios.