In this theme we focus on soil health under drought, heat and other climate extremes. We develop and test soil health indicators and drought resilience indices that connect soil physics, chemistry and biology with crop performance and landscape function. Through field surveys, glasshouse experiments and modelling we explore how management practices, amendments and nature-based solutions can enhance soil water storage, rooting depth, microbial resilience and ecosystem multifunctionality in grazing and dryland cropping systems.