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Pature management measures such as fencing, the application of farmyard manure, and mechanical drilling have been implemented to address pasture degradation. This study explored the response patterns of grassland vegetation communities and soil nutrients under different restoration methods and compared the effects of these interventions. The experiment was conducted in 2023 on degraded pasture in Chenbalhu Banner, Hulunbeier City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Four treatments were applied: control (CK), fencing (WF), farmyard manure (NJF), and mechanical drilling combined with farmyard manure (DNJF). In August of the same year, plant and soil surveys were conducted to evaluate the short-term restoration effects on plant community characteristics, biodiversity, and soil carbon and nitrogen content. The results showed that WF, NJF, and DNJF significantly increased vegetation cover, density, and above ground biomass compared to CK, with notable improvements in community height and aboveground biomass (P < 0.05). These treatments effectively enhanced plant diversity in degraded pastures, with WF having the most pronounced impact. Analyzing plant functional groups revealed that perennial grasses exhibited the highest summed dominance ratio under WF, reaching 80.57%. All restoration methods promoted the growth of perennial grasses and increased the summed dominance ratio of C4 plants, thereby improving the light-use efficiency of the plant community. DNJF showed the greatest improvement in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content