Bio-fertilization restores alpine mine SMF and vegetation by reshaping fungal patterns

Restoring degraded alpine mining ecosystems is critically constrained by soil infertility and the functional decoupling of plant-soil-microbe interactions. While optimized bio-fertilization represents a promising restoration strategy, the deterministic mechanisms linking vegetation recovery, fungal community assembly, and soil multifunctionality (SMF) remain poorly understood. This study investigated the effects of a three-year restoration experiment at the Muli coal mine on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, evaluating the integrated response of plant communities and soil functional networks to various fertilization regimes.