[Research progress on soil organic carbon sequestration processes driven by plant-microbe interactions in...

Addressing global climate change and achieving China's "Dual Carbon" strategic goals require enhancing the soil carbon sink function of terrestrial ecosystems. Agroforestry, as a sustainable land management practice, promotes soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and soil carbon storage potential by strengthening plant-microbe interactions. However, the specific mechanisms through which plant-microbe interactions regulate the input, transformation, and stabilization of SOC remain poorly understood. Focusing on the "input-transformation-protection" pathway of soil carbon, we systematically elucidated recent advances in understanding how plant-microbe interactions regulate SOC in agroforestry systems. At the input stage, diverse plant species combinations in agroforestry systems optimize the supply of plant-derived carbon. At the transformation stage, rhizosphere microenvironment drives the changes in microbial community structure, metabolic function, and ecological strategy, and thereby enhancies carbon transformation and stabilization efficiency via the microbial carbon pump (MCP). At the protection stage, roots and fungi synergistically promote the formation of soil aggregate structures that protect newly formed carbon. Microbes play a vital role in mediating plant-soil carbon sequestration. Future efforts should strengthen long-term monitoring on deep soil carbon dynamics, deepen the understanding of complex feedback mechanisms among plants, microbes, and soil, and integrate ecological models with multi-omics technologies, which together would provide a theoretical foundation for optimizing carbon management strategies in agroforestry systems under global climate change.