BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEMS: THE FOUNDATION FOR FOREST HEALTH, RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

Forests cover approximately one-third of the global landscape and provide many ecosystem services. Both aboveground and belowground ecosystems together comprise a complete forest. Despite the fact that belowground ecosystems play an essential role in forest functioning, belowground systems are far less well studied and understood. Increasing knowledge of belowground ecosystems provides a more complete understanding of forest environments and advances ecosystem restoration efforts. There are many ways to redirect focus belowground; this paper proposes three examples: first, increase focus within the scientific community; second, incorporate belowground conservation in forest management policies; and third, recognize the sequestration capacity of belowground ecosystems as a climate change mitigation tool.