人类社会的日益扩张,导致人类加速占据地球表面景观，并胁迫地球上生态系统提供不断增长的资源需求和废物吸收能力。所以保护尚未“开放”的自然生态系统及恢复退化的生态系统成为人类长期生存的重要保证。该文着重讨论了恢复过程中的土壤生态学问题。土壤是所有陆地生态系统的结构与功能基础。土壤微生物与动物的种群变化，土壤有机质的积累，及主要元素地球化学循环的改变是恢复生态的重要环节。生态恢复与演替有许多共性，所以演替理论对于认识生态系统恢复中的结构与功能变化有着很大帮助。与自然演替不同的是，人的积极参与在生态恢复中占有中心位置。从最初样地的确立与物种的选择，到后续的灌溉与施肥管理，人的选择影响着土壤的演化，生态系统的发展方向，和最终恢复生态的结果。为保障恢复生态系统的可持续性，短期的工作目标，如提供养分促进植物生长，务必与长期的工作目标，如土壤的恢复相结合。植物与土壤的相互反馈是生态恢复成功的重要标志。成功的生态恢复不仅是对现有生态学理论的“试金检验”，也是推动生态学学科发展的重要原动力。
The dominance of human society on earth is putting tremendous pressure on the earth‘s ecosystems for resources and waste assimilation. Conserving remaining “unexploited” natural ecosystems and restoring degraded ecosystems is a necessity for the long-term sustainability of humankind. Structurally, soil is the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems and affects every ecosystem function. Unfortunately, degradation of soil by human activities is common. Understanding changes in soil microbial and invertebrate communities, organic matter accumulation, and how key biogeochemical cycling of nutrients are changed during ecosystem restoration is essential. Ecosystem restoration shares many similarities with natural succession, and therefore can benefit from the rich ecological understanding of the functional and structural changes that take place during succession. However, unlike naturally occurring succession, ecosystem restoration is manipulated through human intervention. Management decisions in restoration, including plant selection, site selection with consideration of soil parent material, topography and local climate, as well as fertilization, irrigation and other human interventions, heavily influence soil formation and soil processes, and thus affect successional trajectories and restoration. To make restored systems self-sustainable, strategies addressing short-term nutrient supply for quick plant growth and long-term soil development, and those promoting positive plant-soil feedbacks are needed. Not only is successful restoration an “acid test” of our current ecological theories, but it also contributes to the future development of our scientific discipline; thus it is both a challenge and an opportunity for professional ecologists.