Microbial residues are fundamental to the long-term stabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC). Intensively used alpine grasslands are subject to degradation under climate change, which may profoundly reshape microbial life-history strategies and SOC accumulation. However, the mechanisms by which grassland degradation influences the accumulation of different microbial residues and by which microbial life-history strategies regulate these processes remain unclear. Addressing this research gap, we