Active road reclamation approaches accelerate recovery of soil ecosystem properties and microbial communities compared to road closure approaches

The United States Forest Service identifies road decommissioning as a key strategy for protection and restoration of critical ecosystem services, yet little research has been directed at the effectiveness of these restoration efforts ranging from road abandonment to full recontouring of the road prism. Soil samples were collected from abandoned and recontoured roads and never-roaded transects in the Clearwater National Forest in northern Idaho, and relative abundance of soil bacteria and fungal populations and carbon utilization assays were determined. Road recontouring enhances the recovery of microbial communities towards higher fungal:bacterial ratios and carbon utilization capacities relative to road abandonment.