Dynamics of Organic Matter in Agricultural Soil Management Systems
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2026 | Viewed by 250
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil organic matter; carbon; phosphorus; microbial ecology; cropland; grassland
Interests: soil organic carbon; salinity; aggregates; isotope; farmland
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a critical role in regulating soil carbon (C) and nutrient dynamics and is thus fundamental to the functioning and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. Over the years, research has highlighted the factors regulating SOM formation and persistence and has provided knowledge of the sources (plants vs. microbes) and composition of SOM.
This Special Issue aims to advance the understanding of SOM and its ecological functions in agricultural soil management systems. It will focus on how SOM responds to different agricultural soil management methods (e.g., fertilization and/or other soil amendments, irrigation, tillage, crops and crop rotations, etc.) and contributes to ecosystem services (e.g., soil structure, fertility, C sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient cycling, plant growth and crop yield, etc.). We welcome cutting-edge research that utilizes advanced techniques, such as isotopic tracing, spectrum analysis, omics technologies, and modeling, to unravel the complex dynamics of SOM formation and persistence.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Effects of agricultural soil management on SOM content and composition.
- Microbial preferences for plant-derived substrates and their impact on SOM formation and stabilization.
- SOM-controlled microbial interactions.
- Effect of environmental factors (e.g., climate, soil properties) on SOM persistence.
- Innovative strategies to enhance SOM quantity and quality through plant-microbe–soil interactions.
- SOM and soil physicochemical and biological functioning.
We encourage submissions that offer novel insights, utilize interdisciplinary approaches, and have practical implications for ecosystem management and sustainability.
Dr. Hao Chen
Dr. Xinliang Dong
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- agricultural soil management
- soil organic matter
- composition
- stability
- microbes
- plant residue quality
- C sequestration
- soil environments
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