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In recent decades, the use of heavy machinery in forest management has significantly increased, causing the compaction of forest soils and potentially affecting seedling survival and establishment. We thus investigated the effects of soil compaction on soil physical parameters, microarthropod biodiversity, soil respiration, as well as growth and physiology of Pedunculated Oak (Quercus robur) seedlings in an experimental field in central Italy (coarse loamy soil). Two levels of soil compaction were simulated, i.e. 10 tractor passes vs. 25 tractor passes. The larger number of tractor passes increased soil bulk density (+27%) and penetration resistance (+46%), while porosity declined (−11%). Compaction decreased the qualitative biodiversity of soil microarthropods (−13%), the number of growth flushes (−22%) and of leaves (−22%), shoot biomass (−26%), the shoot/root ratio (−10%), the main root length (−24%) and the …