The mangrove forest provides various ecosystem services in tropical and subtropical regions. Many of these services are driven by the biogeochemical cycles of C and N, and soil is the major reservoir for these chemical elements. These cycles may be influenced by the changing climate. The high plant biomass in mangrove forests makes these forests an important sink for blue C storage. However, anaerobic soil conditions may also turn mangrove forests into an environmentally detrimental producer of greenhouse gases (such as CH₄ and N₂O), especially as air temperatures increase. In addition, the changing environmental factors associated with climate change may also influence the N cycles and change the patterns of N₂ fixation, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, and denitrification processes. This review summarizes the biogeochemical processes of C and N cycles in mangrove forest soils based on recently published studies, and how these processes may respond to climate change, with the aim of predicting the impacts of climate change on the mangrove forest ecosystem.

Badland soils—which have high silt and clay contents, bulk density, and soil electric conductivity— cover a large area of Southern Taiwan. This study evaluated the amelioration of these poor soils by thorny bamboo, one of the few plant species that grows in badland soils. Soil physiochemical and biological parameters were measured from three thorny bamboo plantations and nearby bare lands. Results show that bamboo increased microbial C and N, soil acid-hydrolysable C, recalcitrant C, and soluble organic C of badland soils. High microbial biomass C to total organic C ratio indicates that soil organic matter was used more efficiently by microbes colonizing bamboo plantations than in bare land soils. High microbial respiration to biomass C ratio in bare land soils confirmed environmentally induced stress. Soil microbes in bare land soils also faced soil organic matter with the high ratio of recalcitrant C to total organic C. The high soil acid-hydrolysable C to total organic C ratio at bamboo plantations supported the hypothesis that decomposition of bamboo litter increased soil C in labile fractions. Overall, thorny bamboo improved soil quality, thus, this study demonstratesthat planting thorny bamboo is a successful practice for the amelioration of badland soils.