Terrestrial ecosystems disturbances (fires, diseases and pests, nitrogen deposition, extreme climate events, etc.) could profoundly alter ecosystem functions and structures, and therefore affect significantly key processes and factors controlling the terrestrial carbon cycle. Quantitative estimation on the impact of natural disturbances on terrestrial ecosystem is scientifically crucial to improve our understanding of terrestrial carbon processes. In this paper, we analyzed the relationship between the distribution processes and the dynamics of terrestrial carbon cycle in reference with main terrestrial ecosystem distributions (wildfire, pests, nitrogen deposition, flooding, drought, etc.), reviewed the progress of the research in recent years, introduced the research on the response of terrestrial ecosystem to various disturbance processes using ecosystem modeling, and analyzed the main challenges and uncertainties in the related research. Finally, the future research orientation was prospected.