Background and aims <p>Grassland ecosystem functions are severely threatened by intensified grazing. Fine roots, which contribute over 33% of net primary productivity in grassland, play critical supporting in aboveground growth and nutrient cycling. However, the current understanding of how fine root productivity responds to increasing grazing intensity remains elusive.</p> Methods <p>We investigated the impacts of grazing with increasing intensities (0, 0.23, 0.34, 0.46, 0.69, 0.92 AU ha⁻¹) on fine root productivity in a meadow steppe over a decade of grazing history. Soil water content (SWC), soil total nitrogen (STN), plant species diversity, and community dissimilarity were measured to examine the potential mechanisms underlying fine root productivity response.</p> Results <p>The results showed that grazing significantly reduced fine root productivity, with magnitude the reduction increased from 13.2% to 32.9% as grazing intensity intensified. SWC, TN, species diversity, and community dissimilarity all contributed the impacts of grazing on fine root productivity. Under low grazing intensity, the contribution of species diversity and community dissimilarity on fine root productivity was greater than that of soil variables. However, the contributions of SWC and STN increased with increasing grazing intensities, becoming higher than the contributions of species diversity and community dissimilarity at high grazing intensities.</p> Conclusion <p>Overall, this study suggested an aggravated reduction in fine root productivity with increasing grazing intensities, and emphasized a reversal in the explanatory power of plant community composition and soil resources along the grazing intensity. These results improve our understanding of how fine root productivity responds to intensified grazing and the underlying mechanisms.</p>