Forest Microbiomes and Ecosystem Resilience
Report written by Sunandani Chandel (Co-chair, Forest Ecology Special Interest Group)
The Forest Ecology SIG hosted a special webinar on 17 September 2026, bringing together researchers from the United Kingdom, United States and Australia to explore how microorganisms contribute to forest health, ecosystem functioning, climate regulation and resilience.
The webinar formed part of International Microorganism Day (IMD), held annually on 17 September to recognise the importance of microorganisms across health, food, the environment and everyday life. Led by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS), IMD provides an international platform for highlighting the contributions of microorganisms to society and the environment. The webinar was also included in the official IMD 2026 events programme for the United Kingdom.
Thematic Areas and Talks
Across four sessions, speakers explored mycorrhizal fungi, fungal restoration, tree microbiomes, disease suppression and microbial climate processes, highlighting how microbiome research is increasingly informing forest conservation, restoration, tree health and climate resilience.
Mapping and Protecting the World’s Mycorrhizal Fungi
Speaker: Bethan Manley (Computational Biology Lead, SPUN, UK)
The session examined the role of mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient acquisition, carbon cycling and soil biodiversity. Bethan Manley highlighted the work of the “Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)” to map and protect mycorrhizal biodiversity using eDNA, metabarcoding, environmental data and predictive modelling. The “Underground Explorers Programme” supports researchers in expanding local sampling and understanding below-ground fungal communities, with examples from Palmyra and the UK demonstrating applications for conservation and restoration.
Forest conservation needs to move beyond an above-ground focus by recognising below-ground fungal biodiversity as an important component of ecosystem resilience and restoration.
Restoring the Forest Fungal Microbiome
Speaker: Ian Ware (Head of Applied Sciences, Funga, USA)
This session explored the potential of fungal communities as a tool for forest restoration and productivity. Ian Ware described how forest disturbance can alter mycorrhizal communities and outlined the approach by “FUNGA”, which combines fungal surveys, DNA sequencing and forest productivity data to identify communities associated with high-performing forests. Nursery experiments and field trials in loblolly pine demonstrated differences among fungal communities and the potential of selected inoculants to improve tree biomass.
Understanding and restoring beneficial fungal communities could provide a biological approach to supporting forest recovery, productivity and carbon sequestration.
Characterising and Engineering the Oak Microbiome for Enhanced Resilience
Speaker: James McDonald (Professor of Microbial Ecology and Head of Research, Institute of Microbiology and Infection (IMI) & Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR), UK)
The session focused on the oak microbiome and Acute Oak Decline (AOD), examining how environmental pressures can influence microbial communities and interactions with pathogens. Research involving 300 oak trees across England, Scotland and Wales revealed distinct microbial communities across leaves, stems, roots and rhizosphere. The presentation also highlighted microbiome engineering as a potential approach to disease suppression, with defined synthetic microbial communities showing the ability to reduce populations of key AOD-associated bacterial pathogens.
Characterising and engineering tree microbiomes could contribute to new approaches for strengthening tree health and managing forest diseases under increasing environmental stress.
Bark Microbiota Modulate Climate-active Gas Fluxes in Forests
Speaker: Pok Man (Bob) Leung (ARC DECRA Fellow & Group Leader, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Melbourne, Australia)
The final session examined bark-associated microbial communities and their role in forest–atmosphere interactions. Metagenomic analyses identified microbial functions linked to the cycling of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and other climate-active gases, while experimental studies demonstrated microbial contributions to gas consumption and production. The session also highlighted nitrogen-fixing bacteria on tree bark and ongoing work to develop an Australian Tree Microbiome Atlas to investigate microbial diversity and function across tree species and environments.
Tree-associated microorganisms represent a potentially important but underexplored component of forest atmosphere interactions, nutrient cycling and climate processes.
Key Messages
Integrating below-ground biodiversity into forest conservation
Mycorrhizal fungi are important for nutrient cycling, carbon allocation and soil biodiversity. Mapping and predictive approaches can help inform conservation and restoration priorities.
Restoring beneficial microbial communities
Fungal restoration offers potential for supporting forest recovery and productivity by combining ecological surveys, DNA-based approaches and field experimentation.
Using microbiomes to support tree health
Tree microbiomes influence interactions between hosts, environmental stressors and pathogens, creating opportunities for microbiome-based approaches to disease suppression and resilience.
Recognising microbial contributions to climate processes
Tree-associated microorganisms may influence climate-active gas cycling and nutrient processes such as nitrogen fixation.
Towards microbiome-informed forest management
Collectively, the sessions illustrated a shift from describing microbial communities to understanding, mapping, restoring and managing their functions for healthier and more resilient forests.
Participation
The webinar attracted more than 90 participants from forestry, forest ecology, microbiology, ecosystem science, restoration and climate research. The international representation of speakers and participants highlighted the value of cross-disciplinary and geographically diverse perspectives in understanding microbial processes across forest ecosystems.
Looking Ahead
The webinar highlighted the growing relevance of microbial ecology to forest conservation, restoration, tree health and climate resilience. The Forest Ecology SIG will continue to support interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge exchange on how emerging microbial research can contribute to healthier and more resilient forests.
Watch the full webinar recording here:
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