Unveiling the Hidden Drivers: How Vegetation Cover, Season and Forest Management Shape the Soil Microbial Community in Two Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Soil provides essential ecosystem services and serves as a habitat for biodiversity, but it is often affected by disturbances from management practices and seasonal changes, which can alter its microbial communities. This study investigated the combined effects of dominant vegetation, forest management, and seasonal variation on soil microbial communities and enzyme activity over one year in turkey oak and beech forests managed as high forest or coppice. Results showed that the dominant vegetation type had a greater influence on microbial communities than seasonal changes. While forest management did not significantly affect microbial activity, it altered microbial community composition. In beech forests, bacterial communities (at the order level) showed relative abundances higher in soil under high forest with respect to coppice, whereas the fungal community showed orders most abundant under coppice management with respect to the high forest. Forest management changed the relative abundances of microbial communities, but it did not remarkably affect microbial community functions and, thus, the associated ecosystem services. Our results highlight that the forest type should be considered when evaluating forest management. This study offers new insights into the factors influencing the composition of soil microbial communities and their associated ecosystem functions.