As one of the most important multitrophic relationships in forest ecosystems, mycorrhizal symbiosis greatly determines soil carbon and nitrogen cycling processes. However, under ongoing global change impacts, the dominance of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in temperate forests is continuously declining, which will significantly alter soil carbon and nitrogen cycling processes. Through investigating above- and belowground properties in one Changbai Mountain temperate forest, this study found that the ectomycorrhizal dominance negatively affected soil carbon storage through regulating aboveground properties. However, ectomycorrhizal dominance affected soil nitrogen content and transformation rates by regulating both above- and belowground properties. These findings highlight different pathways through which soil nitrogen vs. carbon respond to ectomycorrhizal dominance change. Future temperate forest management and carbon/nitrogen model studies should consider the interactive responses of forest above- and belowground properties to the continual decrease of ectomycorrhizal dominance. Photo taken by Xiao-Hua Wang. See Wu et al. in this issue for details.