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Forests
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Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil
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Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2026) | Viewed by 3198

Editor

Prof. Dr. Yong Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
Interests: restoration ecology; biodiversity; ecological risk assessment; ecological modelling; landuse change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ecosystem degradation is a critical global issue which is becoming increasingly concerning. It has serious negative impacts on the natural environment, human health, economic development, biodiversity, social stability, and cultural heritage, among many other aspects. As the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration moves forward, forest restoration on degraded and deforested land is expanding globally. Many field studies have assessed the ecological effects of restoration actions on plot and regional scales. However, the mechanisms of action of soil and vegetation remain unclear and need to be explored further. This Special Issue plans to explore the effects of vegetation restoration on soil health, as well as the mechanisms of action of soil and vegetation. This Special Issue is aimed at providing selected contributions on the sustainable development of ecosystems.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Effects of vegetation restoration;
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem function;
  • Action mechanisms of soil and vegetation;
  • Restoration outcome assessment;
  • Restoration strategies;
  • Role of soil microbes in vegetation restoration.

Prof. Dr. Yong Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vegetation restoration
  • biodiversity
  • functions
  • soil health
  • ecosystem sustainability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 7935 KB  
Article
The Impacts of Vegetation Restoration Patterns on the Characteristics of Soil Microbial Carbon Cycle Functions in the Taiyi Mountain Area of China
by Xingjian Dun, Wenli Zhu, Shuhan Yu, Tianyu Han, Xia Wang, Chuanlin Liu, Kesheng Fang, Chuanbo Sun, Ming Hao, Wei Zhao, Zixu Zhang and Peng Gao
Forests 2026, 17(4), 448; https://doi.org/10.3390/f17040448 - 2 Apr 2026
Viewed by 587
Abstract
Vegetation restoration can regulate soil microbial habitat and carbon supply by altering soil physicochemical properties. However, it remains unclear how different vegetation restoration patterns influence soil microbial carbon cycling functions through these changes. This study investigated four vegetation restoration models including two coniferous [...] Read more.
Vegetation restoration can regulate soil microbial habitat and carbon supply by altering soil physicochemical properties. However, it remains unclear how different vegetation restoration patterns influence soil microbial carbon cycling functions through these changes. This study investigated four vegetation restoration models including two coniferous forests —Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco. (Cupressaceae, PO) and Pinus densiflora Siebold and Zucc. (Pinaceae, PS); one broadleaf forest—Quercus acutissima Carruth. (Fagaceae, QA); and a shrub (SH), using wasteland (WL) as a control. This study employed metagenomic sequencing technology in conjunction with analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. The research examined alterations in soil physicochemical characteristics, microbial community structure, and functional pathway associated with carbohydrate metabolism, carbon fixation, and methane metabolism. Vegetation restoration patterns had a strong impact on soil characteristics and microbial composition. Compared to WL, the PO treatment exhibited significant increases in soil organic carbon (SOC, 110.71%), phosphorus (TP, 400%), and bulk density (BD, 22.4%). Significant differences were observed in soil carbon cycle functional pathways, with overall abundance following the trend PO > WL > SH > PS > QA. The relative abundance of carbon fixation, methane metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism pathways was highest in PO, significantly higher than in QA. Mantel test showed soil phosphorus, pH, and C; N strongly linked to microbial carbon cycling pathways, marking them as key regulators. We found that PO showed the highest abundance of carbon-cycling-related functional pathways, whereas PS showed a comparatively weaker response, suggesting species-specific variation rather than a uniform coniferous–broadleaf pattern. Vegetation restoration controls microbial carbon cycling through soil properties, especially phosphorus, pH, and nutrient balances. This knowledge supports better restoration planning for ecosystem carbon management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil)
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21 pages, 3500 KB  
Article
Ecology-Oriented Assessment of Temporal Stumping Effects on Soil Respiration in the Kubuqi Desert
by Congyu Chen, Haichao Wang, Zhiyong Pei, Hengkai Li, Jixuan Wang and Suhe Alateng
Forests 2026, 17(2), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020256 - 14 Feb 2026
Viewed by 369
Abstract
Given the significant regulatory effect of stumping on carbon exchange processes in the vegetation–soil system, this study conducted a one-year continuous observation of soil respiration in Salix psammophila stands starting six months after stumping, aiming to reveal the changes in soil respiration characteristics [...] Read more.
Given the significant regulatory effect of stumping on carbon exchange processes in the vegetation–soil system, this study conducted a one-year continuous observation of soil respiration in Salix psammophila stands starting six months after stumping, aiming to reveal the changes in soil respiration characteristics and their main driving factors before and after stumping. In 2023, a stumping experiment was established in Dalate Banner, Ordos, and soil respiration in stumped Salix psammophila plantations was continuously monitored from 2023 to 2024. The relationships between soil respiration, soil temperature, and soil moisture were analyzed using fitting models, and the effects of stumping on soil physicochemical properties were further assessed. Results showed that soil respiration exhibited a unimodal diurnal pattern, reaching the annual minimum in winter (December 2023) and the maximum in midsummer (August 2024). Stumping significantly reduced soil respiration rates across diurnal, seasonal, and annual scales. This reduction was attributed both to direct effects, through decreased vegetation carbon input and altered root distribution, and to indirect effects, via changes in soil temperature and moisture. Model fitting indicated that the dual-factor model incorporating soil temperature and moisture explained variations in soil respiration more effectively than single-factor models, with the bivariate nonlinear model providing the best fit. In addition, stumping improved the vertical distribution of soil nutrients by enhancing the accumulation of organic matter and organic carbon in the middle soil layer and increasing total nitrogen content in the surface soil. Soil pH showed only slight variations across treatments and depths, remaining consistently within the strongly alkaline range (9.37–9.56). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil)
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18 pages, 2560 KB  
Article
Vegetation Traits and Litter Properties Play a Vital Role in Enhancing Soil Quality in Revegetated Sandy Land Ecosystems
by Pengfei Zhang, Ming’an Shao, Xiao Bai and Chunlei Zhao
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1782; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121782 - 27 Nov 2025
Viewed by 576
Abstract
Desertification erodes arable land and human habitats. Vegetation restoration represents a critical process for improving the quality of sandy land by enhancing soil structure and nutrient cycling. This study aims to investigation how vegetation restoration affects soil physicochemical properties and soil quality. Five [...] Read more.
Desertification erodes arable land and human habitats. Vegetation restoration represents a critical process for improving the quality of sandy land by enhancing soil structure and nutrient cycling. This study aims to investigation how vegetation restoration affects soil physicochemical properties and soil quality. Five vegetated land types were selected (Pinus sylvestris var. mongholica Litv., PS; Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., AP; Salix psammophila, SP; Amorpha fruticosa L., AF; Artemisia desertorum Spreng., AD). Bare sandy land (BS) served as the control. The physicochemical properties of 270 soil samples from three vertical depth intervals (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm) were analyzed. The findings demonstrated that vegetation restoration markedly improved the proportion of finer soil particles (clay and silt) and organic carbon, while the variations in total phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen were not significant. To better understand the variations in soil quality in different vegetated lands, a soil quality index (SQI) was developed that considers multiple soil physical and chemical indicator selections and scoring methods. The SQI based on the minimum dataset and linear scoring method better differentiated the soil quality for sandy lands and showed higher values for SP among all five vegetated lands and BS. Improvements in soil quality were closely related to vegetation properties (density and coverage) and litter characteristics (thickness, water content, and total phosphorus content). Restoration strategies for sandy lands should focus more strongly on species selection, taking into account interspecific variations in litter production, physicochemical properties, canopy architecture, and planting density to more effectively improve soil quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil)
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17 pages, 2675 KB  
Article
Unveiling the Carbon Secrets: How Forestry Projects Transform Biomass and Soil Carbon on the Tibet Plateau
by Man Cheng, Xia Xu, Zhixuan Chen, Yun Xiang, Yongli Wen and Xiao Wang
Forests 2025, 16(4), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16040631 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 863
Abstract
Afforestation is regarded as a crucial approach to enhancing terrestrial carbon sinks. Nevertheless, in ecologically fragile regions, the impacts of afforestation on carbon in biomass and soil remain highly uncertain. This study employed field investigations to explore the effects of forestry ecological projects [...] Read more.
Afforestation is regarded as a crucial approach to enhancing terrestrial carbon sinks. Nevertheless, in ecologically fragile regions, the impacts of afforestation on carbon in biomass and soil remain highly uncertain. This study employed field investigations to explore the effects of forestry ecological projects on carbon stocks in biomass and soil within the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, and to deeply analyze its key influencing factors. The key findings are summarized as follows: (1) The total vegetation carbon stocks of arbor forests and shrub forests (ranging from 7.7 to 24.0 Mg/ha) are 1.3–6.8 times that of grasslands (ranging from 3.5 to 6.1 Mg/ha). Afforestation-induced changes in biomass carbon are primarily attributed to the increase in carbon storage within the arbor-shrub layer, while exhibiting negligible effects on herbaceous layer carbon. (2) The soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (0–100 cm depth) of forestland, shrubland, and grassland are 39.6–64.5 Mg/ha, 40.7–100.2 Mg/ha, and 43.1–121.9 Mg/ha, respectively. There are no significant differences in SOC stocks among shrubland, forestland, and grassland at either the 10- or 25-year development stage. The SOC stocks of 40-year-old shrubland and forestland are 1.5 and 2.3 times that of grassland, respectively. (3) For 10-year-old and 25-year-old arbor and shrub afforestation, biomass carbon increased while SOC decreased, showing a trade-off. In the case of 40- year-old afforestation, both biomass carbon and SOC increased synergistically. (4) Results from the random forest analysis indicate that the understory herbaceous diversity in this region has a significant impact on biomass carbon sequestration, and that soil total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen determine SOC sequestration. (5) Partial least squares analysis further demonstrates that afforestation promotes the retention of SOC stocks by increasing soil nutrients (especially nitrogen and nitrogen availability). Afforestation in alpine and arid regions, especially 40-year shrub afforestation, holds great carbon sequestration potential. The supplementation of soil nitrogen and phosphorus can enhance the carbon sequestration of this system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Forest Soil)
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