No‐Tillage Reseeding Enhances the Restoration of Degraded Alpine Meadows by Regulating Plant Soil and Bacterial Communities

ABSTRACT Soil tillage management is one of the effective measures to restore degraded terrestrial ecosystems; however, the responses of soil and plants to different tillage management in severely degraded alpine meadows have not been well addressed. In this study, three typical native grass species were planted in a degraded alpine meadow using two tillage management measures: the no‐tillage reseeding (RG) and the cultivated grassland (CG). Soil and plant physicochemical properties, along with soil bacterial community structure, were analyzed. Results showed that the coexistence of Cyperaceae and Gramineae in no‐tillage reseeding increased community diversity and shifted dominance from poisonous weeds to desirable functional groups, compared with cultivated grassland and severely degraded alpine meadows. No‐tillage reseeding enhanced soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and soil microbial biomass carbon (SMC), microbial nitrogen (SMN), and microbial phosphorus (SMP) more effectively than cultivated grassland. These improved soil physicochemical properties (particularly soil water content and bulk density) served as key drivers shaping the bacterial communities. Specifically, no‐tillage reseeding enriched carbon cycle‐related functional groups, reduced nitrogen cycle‐related groups, and promoted a more stable plant‐bacterial bipartite network characterized by higher numbers of nodes and links, as well as more positive interactions. Notably, the regulatory effects of no‐tillage reseeding on bacterial communities and functions were directly mediated by soil properties, and were independent of plant community changes. Our findings reveal that no‐tillage reseeding restores degraded alpine meadows via a soil‐centered mechanism: by minimizing disturbance to improve soil structure and nutrient availability, which in turn optimizes plant community structure and bacterial community stability. This process‐based understanding provides a scientific basis for developing effective management strategies for degraded alpine ecosystems.