Introduction: To address the critical issues of soil fertility depletion, poor vegetation establishment, and functional degradation of microbial communities in degraded alpine mining ecosystems, this study focuses on the Muli coal mine on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. This study systematically examined the synergistic regulatory mechanisms underlying the combined application of compound microbial inoculants and forage-specific fertilizers for restoring degraded ecosystems. The findings establish a theoretical framework and technical approach for rehabilitating fragile alpine ecosystems under extreme environmental conditions. Methods: A three-year field experiment was conducted using a long-term plot design. Integrated assessments of vegetation performance, soil physicochemical properties, and soil bacterial community structure (via high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing) were performed. Multivariate statistical analyses, including redundancy analysis (RDA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), were employed to evaluate the comprehensive effects of fertilizer–microbe co-application on the vegetation–soil–microorganism system. Results and discussion: The optimized fertilizer–microbe treatment (W3J1: 375.00 kg·hm ⁻² forage-specific fertilizer + 350.00 kg·hm ⁻² compound microbial inoculant) significantly promoted vegetation growth, increased soil carbon and nitrogen contents, and effectively alleviated soil salinization. This treatment reshaped soil bacterial community structure, enriched functional taxa (e.g., Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota ), and enhanced the complexity and functional potential of microbial interaction networks. Mechanistic analysis revealed that the synergistic effect of fertilizer and microbes primarily drove ecosystem recovery through a dual-pathway mechanism: direct microbial regulation and vegetation–soil feedback. The direct effect on bacterial α -diversity was extremely significant ( β = 0.76, p < 0.001). Soil pH was identified as the key driver of microbial community assembly, while excessive fertilization induced salinity rebound, indicating a clear application threshold. This study provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the precise ecological restoration of fragile ecosystems in alpine mining areas.

Understanding alpine plants’ survival and reproduction is crucial for their conservation in climate change. This study, based on 273 valid distribution points, utilizes the MaxEnt model to predict the potential habitat and distribution dynamics of Kobresia pygmaea under both current and future climate scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, SSP585), while clarifying the key factors that influence its distribution. The study indicates that elevation (3527.99–6054.54 m) is the dominant factor influencing its distribution. The current suitable habitat is primarily concentrated in southern and central Tibet, northwestern Sichuan, and southern Qinghai on the Tibetan Plateau, with a total area of 1.13 × 10⁵ km², of which high- and moderate-suitability areas account for 1.76 × 10⁴ km² and 3.2 × 10⁴ km², respectively. Under future climate scenarios (2050s–2070s), the overall distribution pattern remains concentrated on the Tibetan Plateau, but the suitable area exhibits a trend of initial expansion followed by contraction. By the 2050s, the total suitable area increases across all scenarios, with the most pronounced expansion under SSP126. By the 2070s, however, the total suitable area decreases under high-emission scenarios, declining by 9.50% under SSP370 and 6.76% under SSP585, respectively. The reduction in high-suitability areas is more severe, with a maximum decline of 58.75% under SSP3-7.0. Dynamic change analysis shows that approximately 70% of the current high-suitability areas remain stable by the 2050s, with range expansion occurring under low-emission scenarios toward southeastern Tibet, northwestern Sichuan, and southern Golog in Qinghai. In contrast, habitat contraction intensifies by the 2070s, particularly under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, where the reduced area reaches 1.6 times the current high-suitability extent. Centroid shift analysis indicates that the distribution center of suitable habitats migrates northward or northeastward, with a maximum displacement of 206.51 km under the SSP1-2.6 scenario by the 2050s. The results suggest that short-term climate warming may alleviate low-temperature constraints, facilitating the upward and poleward expansion of Kobresia pygmaea into higher-elevation areas. However, prolonged and intensified warming will likely lead to degradation of core habitats, posing a significant threat to its long-term persistence. This study provides a scientific basis for the conservation of alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau and for developing adaptive management strategies under climate change.

Monoculture and mixed sowing are common practices for restoring degraded alpine meadow grasslands. To investigate the effects of different sowing patterns on soil bacterial community characteristics in alpine artificial grasslands, this study examined a 20-year-old established artificial grassland, systematically analyzing plant community attributes, soil physicochemical properties, and the diversity and functional structure of soil bacterial communities under various monoculture and mixed-sowing treatments. The results showed that: (1) Mixed-sowing treatments significantly improved soil physicochemical properties and plant community characteristics. The P4 (Elymus nutans + Poa pratensis + Festuca sinensis + Poa crymophila) mixed-sowing treatment notably enhanced vegetation performance and soil conditions. Compared with the monoculture P1 (Elymus nutans) treatment, aboveground biomass (AGB) and soil organic matter (SOM) content increased by 57.23% and 68.25%, respectively, indicating that perennial grass mixtures improve soil water and nutrient retention, thereby promoting plant growth. (2) Microbiome analysis revealed that mixed sowing significantly optimized the structure of rhizosphere bacterial communities. Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), which represent sequence-based taxonomic units and their abundance information, were most abundant in the P4 mixed-sowing treatment, reaching a total of 5685 OTUs. In terms of bacterial diversity indices, the OTU richness, Ace index, and Chao1 index in the P4 mixed-sowing treatment were 26.12%, 25.81%, and 24.34% higher, respectively, than those in the monoculture P1 treatment, with all differences being statistically significant (p < 0.05). (3) Mantel test and redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil electrical conductivity (SEC) and pH were negatively correlated with bacterial diversity indices, while soil organic matter (SOM) was identified as the key environmental driver shaping bacterial community assembly. In summary, appropriate grass mixtures effectively enhance “plant–soil–microbe” interactions, leading to improved soil fertility and optimized bacterial communities, representing a viable strategy for long-term ecological restoration and sustainability of alpine artificial grassland ecosystems. The P4 treatment—comprising a four-species mixture of Elymus nutans, Poa pratensis, Poa crymophila, and Festuca sinensis—achieved the best overall performance.

Restoring degraded alpine mining ecosystems is critically constrained by soil infertility and the functional decoupling of plant–soil–microbe i