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# Forest carbon can recover on a similar trajectory while the ecosystem underneath takes a different path
- URL: https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/2026-09-15-forest-carbon-restoration-pathways/
- Published: 2026-09-15T14:01:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T14:01:34.000Z
- Description: A subalpine forest chronosequence found similar total above-ground carbon recovery in secondary and planted forests, but the mycorrhizal, structural and soil pathways behind that recovery differed.
- Author: Benjamin Worlund
- Tags: forest restoration, carbon recovery, mycorrhizae, secondary forest, planted forest, chronosequence, Land, Climate, Methods, #ecological-intelligence, #brief-2026-09-15, #priority-read, #peer-reviewed

Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Geography

China

System

Subalpine secondary and planted forests

## WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers compared secondary and planted subalpine forests across a recovery chronosequence, separating total above-ground tree carbon into ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) components and testing stand structure, functional composition and soil variables. Total tree carbon and EcM-associated carbon increased with recovery stage in both strategies, with no significant strategy-by-stage interaction for either; AM-associated carbon did show a significant interaction. Secondary forests were more strongly associated with mycorrhizal dominance and functional reassembly, while planted forests were more strongly associated with stand structure and soil conditions.

## WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

The useful result is the null as much as the difference: two restoration approaches can converge on a similar headline carbon trajectory while rebuilding different ecological machinery. Carbon stock alone can therefore hide differences in composition, structure and belowground relationships that may matter for durability and future function.

## CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

This is a chronosequence and structural-equation analysis rather than a randomized restoration experiment, so inferred pathways remain observational. The findings concern above-ground tree carbon in one subalpine forest context and do not establish that secondary and planted forests are equivalent across biodiversity, soil carbon or long-term resilience.

## SOURCE

Journal of Applied Ecology · Original evidence  
[View original evidence ↗](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.70554?ref=intelligence.wildlandseco.com)

From the Morning Brief · 2026-09-15

[Read the full Morning Brief →](https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/morning-brief-2026-09-15/)