The area of the globe impacted by temporary but drastic disturbances continues to increase at an increasing rate. The disturbance creates crucial needs for rapidly stabilizing sites and restoring provision of ecosystem services. It also creates opportunities for improving fundamental knowledge about ecosystem responses to drastic shocks and recovery of soil and plant functions across landscapes, climates, and chronosequences. This symposium will combine studies of fundamental ecosystem reaction and recovery after drastic disturbances with applied studies of techniques to facilitate ecosystem stabilization and recovery. The topic is broadly multidisciplinary from both fundamental ecological and technical restoration perspectives.