Abstract
Plant–soil interactions are the foundation of effective and
sustained restoration of terrestrial communities and ecosystems.
Recent advances in ecological science have greatly
contributed to our understanding of the effects of soil conditions
on plant community dynamics and our understanding
of plant composition impacts on almost every aspect of
soil structure and function. Although these theories provide
important guidelines for the practice of restoration, they
often fall short of providing the level of information
required to make effective site-specific management decisions.
This is largely because of ecology’s search for simple
unifying theories and the resulting tendency to generalize
from studies at one or only a few sites. An average effect or
broad-scale simple relationship tends to provide a ‘‘onesize-fits-all’’
(or none) prescription for managers. Plant–soil
interactions can vary greatly depending on their context
(e.g., environmental conditions, management practices,
time, neighboring community, interaction with other organisms).
The ability to predict these context-dependent interactions
between plants and soils can be developed by
building upon existing general frameworks for understanding
plant–soil interactions. Collaborations between researchers
and managers can develop conceptual tools that
allow us to understand and manage the variability and complexity
of plant–soil interactions, simultaneously advancing
theory and applicability.
Key words: context dependence, microbial communities,
plant–soil interactions, plant traits, restoration, soil nutrients,
species effects.