Grasslands, covering more than 40% of Earth's terrestrial surface, are key ecosystems for global carbon storage, biodiversity maintenance, and sustainable agricultural production. However, these ecosystems are increasingly threatened by climate change and a range of anthropogenic pressures—including overgrazing, land-use change, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, and shifting nutrient regimes. These stressors disrupt not only aboveground plant communities but also the core belowground processes that underpin ecosystem stability.

Central to grassland function are interactions between soil nutrients and microbial communities. Nutrient availability—especially nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter—governs plant growth, photosynthesis, and biomass allocation. At the same time, the soil microbiome drives key ecosystem functions, including nutrient mineralization, rhizosphere signaling, and symbiotic associations such as mycorrhizae and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Collectively, soil nutrients and microbes mediate plant functional traits including root architecture, leaf morphology, and water-use efficiency, shaping how vegetation adapts to environmental stressors.

Emerging evidence suggests that changes in soil microbial composition and function—often driven by shifts in temperature, moisture, and nutrient inputs—can amplify or buffer the effects of environmental stress on plants. However, the complexity of these interactions across diverse grassland ecosystems and environmental gradients remains insufficiently understood. Bridging this knowledge gap requires integrative approaches combining microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, and trait-based plant science.

This Research Topic aims to advance mechanistic understanding of soil nutrient–microbiome interactions that regulate plant functional responses in grassland systems experiencing climate and anthropogenic stress. We seek to synthesize insights from field studies, experimental manipulations, and modeling approaches, with an emphasis on linking belowground processes to plant physiological, morphological, and ecological outcomes.

This Research Topic welcomes, reviews, perspectives, and methods papers that address how soil nutrient dynamics and microbial communities mediate plant functional responses in grasslands. Submissions integrating ecological, physiological, and molecular scales are encouraged.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Interactions among soil nutrients, microbial communities, and plant functional traits

• Rhizosphere processes and root–microbe–soil feedbacks under environmental stress

• Microbiome-regulated nutrient acquisition and biomass allocation strategies

• Influence of microbiomes on plant stress tolerance (e.g., to warming, drought, grazing, nutrient enrichment)

• Omics-based approaches (including transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and metagenomics) of microbial functions and plant–microbe communication

• Trait-based modeling and predictions of ecosystem resilience or degradation trajectories

• Regulatory roles of secondary metabolites (e.g., phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids) in plant stress resistance, microbe–plant interactions, and ecological adaptation

By connecting advances in trait-based ecology, soil microbiology, and biogeochemistry, this collection aims to clarify the belowground drivers of grassland resilience. The outcomes will inform effective conservation, management, and restoration strategies for grassland ecosystems facing rapid environmental change.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Soil Nutrient–Microbiome Interactions Regulating Plant Functional Responses in Grasslands under Climate and Anthropogenic Stress