Plant and Soil Biota: Crucial for Mitigating Climate Change in Forests

Abstract

Interest in forestation is rising with increasing recognition that global changes can negatively affect plant diversity and ecosystem function. It is known that forests influence climate through physical, chemical, and biological processes and ecohydrology need substantially more research. Functional interactions among vegetation, soils, and hydrologic processes permit the trees to maintain their symbioses in the soil. However, global change affects forests and soil health, influencing the population, diversity and activities of soil microbes, including symbiotic fungal populations. Although plants are sessile organisms, selected agroforestry tree species (mycorrhizal dependent plants) can be employed in forestation to encompass environmental stresses increased by global changes. This review was done to explore current information on forest for mitigating climate change, with respect to the research results on soil microbiota and its hydrologic impacts. Thus, relevant findings related to the benefits of soil health are emphasized. Accordingly, I discuss interdisciplinary knowledge required to understand the potential of forest to mitigate climate change.