My PhD focuses on the interactions between plant traits (especially root traits) and soil properties key to soil health, and their responses to perturbations and drought. Specifically, my research aims to 1) understand how root traits of a wide range of grassland plant species with different growth strategies respond to common management perturbations (defoliation and fertilisation) and drought severity; 2) explore how these responses influence soil aggregate stability, nutrients retention, and microbial community; (3) identify the patterns and thresholds of these responses under different levels of drought stress.