Restoration of natural ecosystems is critical for mitigating biodiversity declines and for maintaining ecosystem services. It is becoming well accepted that soil microorganisms are important for these restoration efforts, with soil microorganisms playing a key role in re-establishing diverse native plant communities and in sustaining ecosystem services. Research on restoration of soil microorganisms has begun to unpack the microbial “black box”, yielding greater insights into the ecology of these organisms and their key roles in ecosystem function. However, given the diversity of soil communities and the multiple ecosystem functions associated with these communities, broad conclusions regarding the restoration of soil communities are lacking and the long term effects/persistence of many microbial taxa used in restoration remains unknown. Examinations of microbial community structure or key microbial processes during restoration can identify how the ecology of different groups of microorganisms may differ during ecosystem recovery. For example, root-associated and saprotrophic microbes likely differ in their effect on restoration successes and also respond to soil management of a restoration differently. Integrations of multiple microbial groups or functions in one study are time consuming and can be technically difficult. Therefore, the goal of this session is to bring together scientists studying how soil microorganisms improve ecological recovery and help to broadly identify patterns observed across diverse taxonomic groups and ecosystem functions. We will present on restorations from diverse ecosystems to ask the question: how do soil microorganisms ensure and improve the success of ecological restoration? Presentations of both microbial community structure and ecosystem processes will be made and will highlight restorations from multiple ecosystems, including grasslands, wetlands, oak-dominated savannas, and forests in both urban and ex-urban settings. In addition, we will bring together scientists with diverse affiliations. Thus, a potential outcome for this session includes help with overcoming an array of challenges, such as decisions on soil amendments, obtaining permits, and engaging the public, involved with using soil microorganisms for meeting restoration goals.