Plant Diversity and Plant-Microbiome Interactions

Dear Colleagues,

Plant diversity is a fundamental driver of terrestrial ecosystem structure, functioning, and resilience. Increasing evidence demonstrates that plants and their associated microbiomes—particularly soil microbial communities—form tightly coupled, bidirectional interactions that regulate nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, plant performance, and ecosystem responses to global change. Aboveground plant diversity shapes belowground microbial composition, diversity, and function, while microorganisms in turn influence plant growth, stress tolerance, and community assembly. Under the combined pressures of climate change, land-use intensification, invasive species, and habitat degradation, understanding the mechanisms underlying these plant–microbiome interactions has become critical for predicting ecosystem trajectories and designing effective restoration strategies.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research that elucidates how changes in plant diversity and composition affect soil microbiome structure and function, and how microbial feedbacks influence plant communities and ecosystem processes. We welcome high-quality, hypothesis-driven original research and review articles that employ experimental, observational, or modeling approaches across forests, grasslands, wetlands, agricultural systems, and other terrestrial habitats.

Prof. Dr. Liqiang Mu
Dr. Xin Sui
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.