In this work, we theoretically explore how litter decomposition processes and soil-borne pathogens contribute to negativeplant-soil feedbacks, in particular in transient and stable spatial organisation of tropical forest trees and seedlings known asJanzen-Connell distributions. By considering soil-borne pathogens and autotoxicity both separately and in combination, we can understand the influence ofboth factors on transient dynamics and emerging Janzen-Connell distributions. We also identify parameter regimes associatedwith different long-term behaviours. Moreover, we compare how the strength of negative plant-soil feedbacks was mediated bygermination and growth strategies, using a combination of analytical approaches and numerical simulations. Our interdisciplinary investigation, motivated by an ecological question, allows us to construct an important link between localfeedbacks, spatial self-organisation, and community assembly, providing a valuable tool to help understanding biodiversity intropical ecosystems and disentangling the differences between two potential mechanisms driving Janzen-Connell distributions.Furthermore, our theoretical results may help guiding future field data analyses by identifying spatial signatures in adult treeand seedling distribution data that may reflect the presence of particular plant-soil feedback mechanisms.