Why are plant–soil feedbacks so unpredictable, and what to do about it?

The study of feedbacks between plants and soils (plant–soil feedbacks; PSFs) is receiving increased attention. However, PSFs have been mostly studied in isolation of abiotic and biotic drivers that could affect their strength and direction. This is problematic because it has led to limited predictive power of PSFs in “the real world,” leaving large knowledge gaps in our ability to predict how PSFs contribute to ecosystem processes and functions....