Bastin, J. F. et al. The global tree restoration potential. Science 365, 76–79 (2019).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Windisch, M. G. et al. Prioritizing forestation based on biogeochemical and local biogeophysical impacts. Nat. Clim. Change 11, 867–871 (2021).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) 43–50 (WMO, 2018).

Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FAO, 2016).

Keenan, R. J. et al. Dynamics of global forest area: results from the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. For. Ecol. Manag. 352, 9–20 (2015).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Busch, J. et al. Cost-effectiveness of natural forest regeneration and plantations for climate mitigation. Nat. Clim. Change 14, 996–1002 (2024).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Austin, K. G. et al. The economic costs of planting, preserving, and managing the world’s forests to mitigate climate change. Nat. Commun. 11, 5946 (2020).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Hayman, G. Forestation is not an easy fix. Science 383, 833–834 (2024).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Hua, F. Y. et al. The biodiversity and ecosystem service contributions and trade-offs of forest restoration approaches. Science 376, 839–844 (2022).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (IPCC, 2003).

Bahram, M. et al. Structure and function of the global topsoil microbiome. Nature 560, 233–237 (2018).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Yao, L. et al. Carbon sequestration potential of tree planting in China. Nat. Commun. 15, 8398 (2024).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Xu, H. et al. Forestation at the right time with the right species can generate persistent carbon benefits in China. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2304988120 (2023).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Wang, Y. et al. Forest conversion to plantations: a meta-analysis of consequences for soil and microbial properties and functions. Glob. Change Biol. 27, 5643–5656 (2021).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Zhou, G. et al. Temperature and rainfall patterns constrain the multidimensional rewilding of global forests. Adv. Sci. 9, e2201144 (2022).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Hong, S. B. et al. Divergent responses of soil organic carbon to afforestation. Nat. Sustain. 3, 694–700 (2020).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Barcena, T. G. et al. Soil carbon stock change following afforestation in Northern Europe: a meta-analysis. Glob. Change Biol. 20, 2393–2405 (2014).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Bossio, D. A. et al. The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions. Nat. Sustain. 3, 391–398 (2020).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Ascenzi, I. et al. Increased but not pristine soil organic carbon stocks in restored ecosystems. Nat. Commun. 16, 637 (2025).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Coban, O. et al. Soil microbiota as game-changers in restoration of degraded lands. Science 375, abe0725 (2022).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Philippot, L. et al. The interplay between microbial communities and soil properties. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 22, 226–239 (2023).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Sokol, N. W. et al. Life and death in the soil microbiome: how ecological processes influence biogeochemistry. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 20, 415–430 (2022).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Jansson, J. K. et al. Soil microbiome engineering for sustainability in a changing environment. Nat. Biotechnol. 41, 1716–1728 (2023).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Zhong, Z. et al. Organic carbon, nitrogen accumulation, and soil aggregate dynamics as affected by vegetation restoration patterns in the Loess Plateau of China. Catena 196, 104867 (2021).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Yu, P. et al. The increased soil aggregate stability and aggregate-associated carbon by farmland use change in a karst region of Southwest China. Catena 231, 107284 (2023).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Feng, J. G. et al. Changes in plant inputs alter soil carbon and microbial communities in forest ecosystems. Glob. Change Biol. 28, 3426–3440 (2022).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Georgiou, K. et al. Global stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon. Nat. Commun. 13, 3797 (2022).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Li, D. et al. Vulnerability of the global terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. Glob. Change Biol. 24, 4095–4106 (2018).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Prommer, J. et al. Increased microbial growth, biomass, and turnover drive soil organic carbon accumulation at higher plant diversity. Glob. Change Biol. 26, 669–681 (2020).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Sáez-Sandino, T. et al. The soil microbiome governs the response of microbial respiration to warming across the globe. Nat. Clim. Change 13, 1382–1387 (2023).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Wong, M. Y. et al. Trees adjust nutrient acquisition strategies across tropical forest secondary succession. New Phytol. 243, 132–144 (2024).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Cui, Y. et al. Global patterns of nutrient limitation in soil microorganisms. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 122, e2424552122 (2025).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Hong, S. B. et al. Asymmetry of carbon sequestrations by plant and soil after forestation regulated by soil nitrogen. Nat. Commun. 14, 3196 (2023).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Pascual, D. et al. Higher carbon storage in primary than secondary boreal forests in Sweden. Science 391, 1256–1261 (2026).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Xu, J. China’s new forests aren’t as green as they seem. Nature 477, 371–371 (2011).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Cao, S. et al. Excessive reliance on afforestation in China’s arid and semi-arid regions: lessons in ecological restoration. Earth Sci. Rev. 104, 240–245 (2011).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Bastida, F. et al. Soil microbial diversity–biomass relationships are driven by soil carbon content across global biomes. ISME J. 15, 2081–2091 (2021).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Men, X. et al. Soil microbial metabolic limitations under subalpine coniferous and broad-leaved forests responding to litter input and removal treatments. Func. Ecol. 39, 2803–2816 (2025).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Qu, X. et al. Deforestation impacts soil biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2318475121 (2024).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Mou, Z. J. et al. Nutrient availability and stoichiometry mediate microbial effects on soil carbon sequestration in tropical forests. Soil Biol. Biochem. 186, 109186 (2023).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Crawford, K. M. et al. Why, when, and how microbes can benefit ecological restorations: current approaches and future directions. New Phytol. 250, 74–88 (2026).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Chen, X. L. et al. Tree diversity increases decadal forest soil carbon and nitrogen accrual. Nature 618, 94–101 (2023).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Cui, Y. et al. Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry and microbial nutrient limitation in rhizosphere soil in the arid area of the northern Loess Plateau, China. Soil Biol. Biochem. 116, 11–21 (2018).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Gao, D. et al. Global prediction of soil microbial growth rates and carbon use efficiency based on the metabolic theory of ecology. Soil Biol. Biochem. 190, 109315 (2024).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Jung, M. et al. Areas of global importance for conserving terrestrial biodiversity, carbon and water. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 1499–1509 (2021).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Veldman, J. W. et al. Where tree planting and forest expansion are bad for biodiversity and ecosystem services. BioScience 65, 1011–1018 (2015).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Dong, Y. et al. Enhancing carbon sinks in China using a spatially-optimized forestation strategy. Nat. Commun. 17, 1576 (2026).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Kristensen, J. Å et al. Tree planting is no climate solution at northern high latitudes. Nat. Geosci. 17, 1087–1092 (2024).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Cui, Y. X. et al. Limiting resources define the global pattern of soil microbial carbon use efficiency. Adv. Sci. 11, 2308176 (2024).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Hoek van Dijke, A. J. et al. Shifts in regional water availability due to global tree restoration. Nat. Geosci. 15, 363–368 (2022).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Wang, Q. et al. Will large-scale forestation lead to a soil water deficit crisis in China’s drylands? Sci. Bull. 69, 1506–1514 (2024).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Ploton, P. et al. Spatial validation reveals poor predictive performance of large-scale ecological mapping models. Nat. Commun. 11, 4540 (2020).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Meyer, H. & Pebesma, E. Predicting into unknown space? Estimating the area of applicability of spatial prediction models. Methods Ecol. Evol. 12, 1620–1633 (2021).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Milà, C. et al. Nearest neighbour distance matching leave-one-out cross-validation for map validation. Methods Ecol. Evol. 13, 1304–1316 (2022).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Johannesson, C.-F. et al. Decadal decline in forest floor soil organic carbon after clear-cutting in Nordic and Canadian forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 586, 122668 (2025).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Gomes, S. I. et al. Soil microbiome inoculation for resilient and multifunctional new forests in post-agricultural landscapes. Glob. Change Biol. 31, e70031 (2025).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Principles for Ecosystem Restoration to Guide the United Nations Decade 2021–2030 (UN, 2021).

Dave, R. et al. Second Bonn Challenge Progress Report: Application of the Barometer in 2018 (IUCN, 2019).

Page, M. J. et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Br. Med. J. 372, n71 (2021).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Luo, Y. et al. Elevated CO2 stimulates net accumulations of carbon and nitrogen in land ecosystems: a meta-analysis. Ecology 87, 53–63 (2006).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Viechtbauer, W. Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. J. Stat. Softw. 36, 1–48 (2010).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Cui, Y. et al. Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry reveals widespread soil phosphorus limitation to microbial metabolism across Chinese forests. Commun. Earth Environ. 3, 184 (2022).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Berdugo, M. et al. Global ecosystem thresholds driven by aridity. Science 367, 787–790 (2020).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Muggeo, V. M. Segmented: an R package to fit regression models with broken-line relationships. R News 8, 20–25 (2008).


Google Scholar
 

Toms, J. D. & Lesperance, M. L. Piecewise regression: a tool for identifying ecological thresholds. Ecology 84, 2034–2041 (2003).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Fox, J. car: Companion to applied regression. R version 3.1-3 https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=car (2024).

Breiman, L. Random forests. Mach. Learn. 45, 5–32 (2001).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Oksanen, J. et al. vegan: Community Ecology Package. R version 2.6-4 https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan (2022).

Lefcheck, J. S. piecewiseSEM: piecewise structural equation modelling in R for ecology, evolution, and systematics. Methods Ecol. Evol. 7, 573–579 (2016).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Bates, D. et al. lme4: Linear Mixed-Effects Models using ‘Eigen’ and S4. R version 1.1-31 https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4 (2022).

Xiao, Y. et al. Global natural and planted forests mapping at fine spatial resolution of 30 m. J. Remote Sens. 4, 0204 (2024).

Article 

Google Scholar
 

Van Nuland, M. E. et al. Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected. Nature 645, 414–422 (2025).

Article 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Van Den Hoogen, J. et al. Soil nematode abundance and functional group composition at a global scale. Nature 572, 194–198 (2019).

Article 
PubMed 

Google Scholar
 

Ren, S. et al. Storage potential of soil functional carbon fractions in the world’s largest plantations. Adv. Sci. 12, e04995 (2025).

Article 
CAS 

Google Scholar
 

Phillips, H. R. et al. Global distribution of earthworm diversity. Science 366, 480–485 (2019).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Zou, Y. et al. Positive feedbacks and alternative stable states in forest leaf types. Nat. Commun. 15, 4658 (2024).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Patoine, G. et al. Drivers and trends of global soil microbial carbon over two decades. Nat. Commun. 13, 4195 (2022).

Article 
CAS 
PubMed 
PubMed Central 

Google Scholar
 

Meng, Z., et al. Data from afforestation and reforestation support coupled gains in soil life and carbon storage worldwide. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.33153512 (2026).