“…Plants show plastic trait responses to many shifts in environmental conditions (Fransen et al, 1998; Gratani, 2014; Tobner et al, 2013; Valverde‐Barrantes et al, 2013; Weemstra et al, 2020), and especially to variations in soil nutrient levels (Adams et al, 2013; Cahill & McNickle, 2011) and spatial distribution (Cahill et al, 2010; Drew, 1975; Hodge, 2004). It is generally assumed that soil microbes mediate species root traits (Baxendale et al, 2014; Cortois et al, 2016; Rutten & Allan, 2022; Rutten & Gómez‐Aparicio, 2018) and play key role in ecological succession, species invasion or communities dynamics (Mack et al, 2019; Mohan et al, 2014; Pausas & Bond, 2022; Rigg et al, 2016). However, it is difficult to capture such plastic plant trait responses and disentangle the signals from mycorrhizal symbiont availability or soil fertility.…”