Necromass carbon but not microbes constrain soil carbon release in restoration of degraded alpine grassland

-C release during degraded alpine grassland restoration was not primarily mediated by microbial activity and diversity shifts but was strongly linked to divergent plant- and microbial-derived C accumulation patterns, especially the dynamics of plant-derived C. These insights underscore the critical roles of plant- and microbial-derived C redistribution in grassland restoration and suggest new mechanisms for restoration-induced soil C dynamics.