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Agriculture
Special Issues
Dynamics of Organic Matter in Agricultural Soil Management Systems
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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 522

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hao Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Interests: soil organic matter; carbon; phosphorus; microbial ecology; cropland; grassland
Dr. Xinliang Dong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050021, China
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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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 2780 KB  
Article
Biodegradable Plastic Film Residues Impede Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration and Macroaggregate-Associated Carbon Storage in Agricultural Soil
by Xiushuang Li, Junli Du, Juan Chen, Jianglan Shi and Xiaohong Tian
Agriculture 2025, 15(20), 2121; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15202121 - 12 Oct 2025
Viewed by 96
Abstract
The progressive replacement of conventional plastic films with biodegradable alternatives in agricultural systems has led to the accumulation of diverse plastic residues in soils, exerting documented impacts on microbial-mediated ecological processes. However, systematic investigations into how these residues influence organic carbon (C) turnover [...] Read more.
The progressive replacement of conventional plastic films with biodegradable alternatives in agricultural systems has led to the accumulation of diverse plastic residues in soils, exerting documented impacts on microbial-mediated ecological processes. However, systematic investigations into how these residues influence organic carbon (C) turnover and inter-aggregate C flows remain critically lacking. This study investigated the effects of diverse plastic film residues on organic C decomposition dynamics and aggregate-associated C sequestration through a 60-day soil incubation experiment. Two representative plastic film types—conventional polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable polylactic acid + polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PAT)—were incorporated into agricultural soil under contrasting organic matter input regimes: with maize straw addition (St) and without any straw addition. The results demonstrated that, in the absence of maize straw, both PE and PAT residues enhanced native soil organic C (SOC) mineralization. Notably, PAT elevated the cumulative CO2 emission by 7.4% (P < 0.05) relative to the control. PE slightly reduced the final SOC content but increased the proportion of soil gates (Mi) and silt plus clay (S + C) toward Ma. Conversely, PAT exerted a negligible effect on final SOC content but reduced Ma by 40.9% (P < 0.05) and increased Mi by 33.4% (P < 0.05), driving C redistribution from Ma to Mi. In contrast, with the addition of maize straw, both St + PE and St + PAT treatments reduced organic C mineralization and diminished the increases in SOC content. Specifically, St + PAT decreased the cumulative CO2 emission by 1.9% (P < 0.05) and lowered the SOC content by 7.1% (P < 0.05) compared to straw addition alone (St). Both St + PE and St + PAT also lowered Ma formation; notably, St + PAT significantly reduced Ma by 33.6% and diminished C flow from Mi and S + C into Ma. In conclusion, biodegradable film residues may impede SOC sequestration and macroaggregate-associated C storage by stimulating the mineralization of native SOC and suppressing organic matter decomposition after crop residue input in soil. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms governing SOC turnover and C stabilization via soil aggregation in the context of accumulating plastic wastes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Organic Matter in Agricultural Soil Management Systems)
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