Soil Microbiome Inoculation for Resilient and Multifunctional New Forests in Post-Agricultural Landscapes

Afforestation is increasingly recognized as a critical strategy to restore ecosystems and enhance biodiversity on post-agricultural landscapes. However, agricultural legacies, such as altered soil structure, nutrient imbalances, and depleted microbial diversity, can slow down forest establishment or cause ecosystems to deviate from expected successional trajectories. In this opinion paper, we explore the potential of soil inoculations as a tool to overcome these challenges by introducing beneficial microbial communities that can accelerate ecosystem recovery and forest development. Restoring soil biodiversity is a crucial aspect of this process that drives broader ecosystem functionality and resilience. We highlight the need to carefully consider the type and timing of inoculations and to ensure compatibility between the inoculum and recipient site characteristics to optimize the establishment of introduced species. While tree productivity is often a central focus of afforestation efforts, the restoration of soil biodiversity, which will also contribute to increased ecosystem-level functions, should also be a priority for long-term forest resilience. Agricultural legacies add complexities to the restoration process, creating unique challenges that need to be addressed in restoration planning. Thus, successful inoculation strategies require a thorough understanding of both donor and recipient site characteristics, also in relation to potential mismatches related to soil physiochemical properties to avoid unintended consequences such as the non-establishment of introduced species. Additionally, we call for the re-evaluation of afforestation targets and the development of standardized monitoring protocols that track the success of inoculation efforts, particularly regarding soil health, microbial community establishment, and biodiversity recovery. By integrating inoculation practices within a broader restoration framework, we can enhance the resilience, biodiversity, and ecosystem functionality of newly afforested landscapes. Ultimately, this approach may play a critical role in ensuring the success of large-scale afforestation projects.