The dominance of human society on earth is putting tremendous pressure on the earth's ecosystems for resources and waste assimilation. Conserving remaining "unexploited" natural ecosystems and restoring degraded ecosystems is a necessity for the long-term sustainability of humankind. Structurally, soil is the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems and affects every ecosystem function. Unfortunately, degradation of soil by human activities is common. Understanding changes in soil microbial and invertebrate communities, organic matter accumulation, and how key biogeochemical cycling of nutrients are changed during ecosystem restoration is essential. Ecosystem restoration shares many similarities with natural succession, and therefore can benefit from the rich ecological understanding of the functional and structural changes that take place during succession. However, unlike naturally occurring succession, ecosystem restoration is manipulated through human intervention. Management decisions in restoration, including plant selection, site selection with consideration of soil parent material, topography and local climate, as well as fertilization, irrigation and other human interventions, heavily influence soil formation and soil processes, and thus affect successional trajectories and restoration. To make restored systems self-sustainable, strategies addressing short-term nutrient supply for quick plant growth and long-term soil development, and those promoting positive plant-soil feedbacks are needed. Not only is successful restoration an "acid test" of our current ecological theories, but it also contributes to the future development of our scientific discipline; thus it is both a challenge and an opportunity for professional ecologists.