Soil stores large amounts of organic carbon, whose dynamic changes can cause a huge impact on the global climate system. Forest succession is a long-term ecological process that can exert powerful effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) due to variations in plant community composition, microenvironment, plant debris stock, soil nutrient availability and microbial community composition among different successional stages. Soil stores large amounts of organic carbon, whose dynamic changes can cause a huge impact on the global climate system. Forest succession is a long-term ecological process that can exert powerful effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) due to variations in plant community composition, microenvironment, plant debris stock, soil nutrient availability and microbial community composition among different successional stages. Ecology Phys.org – latest science and technology news stories