Interactions between plants and soil microbes can influence plant population dynamics and diversity in plant communities. Traditional theoretical paradigms view the microbial community as a black box with net effects described by phenomenological models. This approach struggles to quantify the importance of plant–microbe interactions relative to other competition and coexistence mechanisms and to explain context dependence in microbe effects. We argue that a mechanistic framework focused on microbial functional groups will lead to conceptual and empirical advances, as demonstrated by extending resource ratio theory to plant–microbe interactions. We review the diverse pathways by which different microbial functional groups can influence plant resource competition. Finally, we suggest approaches to link theory with observations to measure the key parameters of our framework.
This content will become publicly available on August 28, 2025
- Award ID(s):
- 2125586
- PAR ID:
- 10537338
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Ecology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Ecology
- ISSN:
- 0022-0477
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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