Abstract: Climate warming and increased nitrogen deposition are significant manifestations of global environmental change, which have important impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. Alpine meadows, as the most widely distributed vegetation type on the Tibetan Plateau, are extremely sensitive to global changes. Research over the past few decades has suggested that plant diversity is a key driver of the functional performance of alpine meadow ecosystems, but the roles of belowground biodiversity and the interactions between aboveground and belowground components in maintaining ecosystem stability have been overlooked. We review the research progress on the changes of plant diversity and soil biodiversity in alpine meadows under the context of climate warming and nitrogen deposition, from the perspectives of species diversity and functional diversity. Currently, there are some shortages in current research on the aboveground-belowground interactions in alpine meadows under climate warming and nitrogen addition, as well as multi-factor interaction experiments in the context of global climate. It is recommended to conduct ecological and molecular biological studies to quantify the threshold judgments of the effects of various components of the aboveground-belowground system in alpine meadows under different gradients and temporal scales of warming and nitrogen addition, as well as their feedback mechanisms. This could provide a theoretical basis for maintaining the multifunctionality of ecosystems and protecting alpine ecological regions in the context of climate change.

Key words: alpine meadow, simulated warming, nitrogen addition, plant diversity, soil biodiversity, aboveground-belowground interaction