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Better understanding of the connection between aboveground plant communities and belowground soil organisms and processes has led to an explosion in recent research on the applications of this link to the field of ecological restoration. Research is only beginning to have the capacity to link soil organisms and specific ecosystem functions. Establishing general ecological principles of the role microbial communities have during ecological restoration is also still in its infancy. As such, the literature is at a critical point to generate a Special Feature that brings together novel approaches of linking soil and restoration to promote more regular inclusion and consideration of soil organisms and soil‐based processes in ecological restoration. In this special feature, we bring together nine research articles from different ecosystems that study the relationship between restoration activities, soil microbial communities, and soil properties. From these research articles, we describe two primary themes: (1) research on the impacts of ecosystem‐specific restoration activities on soil organisms and processes and (2) research testing methods of soil manipulation to improve restoration outcomes. We hope to inspire readers and restoration practitioners to consider soil microbes and soil processes in their research, restoration projects, and world views.

Buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link] is a drought-tolerant invasive grass that is a threat to native biodiversity in the drylands of the Americas and Australia. Despite efforts from land managers to control P. ciliare, management approaches tend to have mixed success, treatment results can be poorly communicated among entities, and there are few long-term controlled studies. In this literature review, we synthesize data from both peer-reviewed and “gray” literature on the efficacy of management techniques to control P. ciliare and the secondary impacts to native plant communities. Our search resulted in 42 unique sources containing a total of 229 studies that we categorized into 10 treatment types, which included herbicide, seeding, manual removal, fire, grazing, biocontrol, fire + additional treatments, manual removal + additional treatments, herbicide + additional treatments, and herbicide + manual removal. We found that treatments that used multiple techniques in tandem along with follow-up treatments were the most effective at controlling P. ciliare. Fewer than one-third of the studies reported impacts of management on native species, and the most commonly studied treatment (herbicide, N = 130) showed detrimental impacts on native plant communities. However, the average time between treatment and outcome measurement was only 15 mo; we suggest the need for more long-term studies of treatment efficacy and secondary impacts of treatment on the ecosystem. Finally, we conducted a second literature review on P. ciliare biology and traits for mechanisms that allows P. ciliare to alter the invaded environment to facilitate a competitive advantage over native species. We found evidence of self-reinforcing feedbacks of invasion being generated by P. ciliare through its interactions with water availability, nutrient cycling, and disturbance regimes. We developed a conceptual model of P. ciliare based on these feedback loops and offer management considerations based on its invasion dynamics and biology.

Questions: How do seeding, cattle grazing, and vehicular use impact vegetation establishment and soil movement on a newly reclaimed pipeline right-of-way? Will these factors result in differing plant community trajectories? Location: Southern Arizona (USA).Methods: Within a pipeline disturbance, we randomly selected nine plots to be seeded with an 18 species mix and nine to be left unseeded. Adjacent to the disturbance, we selected nine undisturbed unseeded control plots for a total of 27 plots (30 m × 45 m each). Within each of the 27 plots, we established a grazed-trampled, grazed-untrampled and ungrazed-untrampled subplot. One year after pipeline reclamation, we analysed the impacts of seeding, grazing and trampling on native plant cover, undesirable plant cover, herbaceous biomass, species richness, soil movement and plant community trajectories in comparison to surrounding undisturbed sites.Results: Seeding disturbed sites with a diverse seed mix resulted in greater native plant cover, higher species richness and fewer undesirable species than were found in unseeded disturbed sites. Unseeded disturbed areas were similar to the undisturbed control areas in species richness and had comparable plant community trajectories.The combined impacts of grazing and trampling reduced native plant cover and herbaceous biomass and were associated with increased soil erosion in comparison to subplots protected from grazing and trampling.Conclusions: Natural vegetation recruitment can be a viable option in semi-arid reclamation projects when the soil seed bank is preserved and there are proximal seed sources. While seeding improved quantitative vegetation metrics, using a seed mix comprised of different species than the preexisting vegetation may set the reclaimed vegetation on a different plant community trajectory. The general prescription of protecting new reclamation sites from grazing and trampling is supported.