SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Planted Forests
Effects of mixed plantations on soil microbial diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality across China: A meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liaocheng University School of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Forestry Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Beijing, China
- 3College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Mixed plantations have emerged as a key afforestation strategy for enhancing the stability and sustainability of forest ecosystems. However, their effects on soil microbial diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain inconsistent. Here, we compiled a dataset from 121 peer-reviewed publications and conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of different mixed plantation strategies on soil microbial diversity and EMF. The results showed that mixed plantations significantly increased bacterial and fungal Shannon indices by 1.43% and 7.4%, respectively, compared to monocultures. In addition, mixed plantations enhanced key ecosystem functions, including increased soil organic carbon, nutrient availability, and moisture retention, while reducing soil bulk density. Collectively, these improvements resulted in a 19.25% increase in the EMF index. Further analysis revealed significant positive correlations between both bacterial and fungal diversity and EMF, as well as significant associations between EMF and key soil physical properties. Moreover, the effects of mixed plantations on microbial diversity and ecosystem functions varied depending on the mixing strategy. Overall, our findings highlight the ecological benefits of mixed plantations for soil microbial diversity and EMF, supporting more effective and sustainable afforestation practices.
Keywords: Afforestation strategies, mixed plantations, Soil microbial diversity, Ecosystemmultifunctionality, Meta-analysis
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Xu and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xinghui Lu, luxinghui_0@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.