Grasslands store approximately one third of the global terrestrial carbon stocks and can act as an important soil carbon sink. Recent studies show that plant diversity increases soil organic carbon (SOC) storage by elevating carbon inputs to belowground biomass and promoting microbial necromass contribution to SOC storage. Climate change affects grassland SOC storage by modifying the processes of plant carbon inputs and microbial catabolism and anabolism. Improved grazing management and biodiversity restoration can provide low-cost and/or high-carbon-gain options for natural climate solutions in global grasslands. The achievable SOC sequestration potential in global grasslands is 2.3 to 7.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year (CO ₂ e year ⁻¹ ) for biodiversity restoration, 148 to 699 megatons of CO ₂ e year ⁻¹ for improved grazing management, and 147 megatons of CO ₂ e year ⁻¹ for sown legumes in pasturelands.

Significance: Soil carbon sequestration plays an important role in mitigating anthropogenic increases in atmospheric CO ₂ concentrations. Recent studies have shown that biodiversity increases soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in experimental grasslands. However, the effects of species diversity on SOC storage in natural ecosystems have rarely been studied, and the potential mechanisms are yet to be understood. The results presented here show that favorable climate conditions, particularly high precipitation, tend to increase both species richness and belowground biomass, which had a consistent positive effect on SOC storage in forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Nitrogen deposition and soil pH generally have a direct negative effect on SOC storage. Ecosystem management that maintains high levels of plant diversity can enhance SOC storage and other ecosystem services that depend on plant diversity.

Impacts of reactive nitrogen (N) inputs on ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics are highly variable, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we proposed a new conceptual framework that integrates plant, microbial and geochemical mechanisms to reconcile diverse and contrasting impacts of N on soil C. This framework was tested using long‐term N enrichment and acid addition experiments in a Mongolian steppe grassland. Distinct mechanisms could explain effects of N on particulate and mineral‐associated soil C pools, potentially explaining discrepancies among previous N addition studies. While plant production predominated particulate C changes, N‐induced soil acidification strongly affected mineral‐associated C through decreased microbial growth and pH‐sensitive associations between iron and aluminium minerals and C. Our findings suggest that effects of N‐induced acidification on microbial respiration and geochemical properties should be included in Earth system models that predict ecosystem C budgets under future N deposition/input scenarios.