Soil Erosion Mechanisms and Water Conservation Processes in Farmland
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Systems and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 November 2026 | Viewed by 86
Special Issue Editor
Interests: soil erosion mechanisms; soil and water conservation; agricultural non-point source pollution
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Farmland soil erosion is a major threat to global food security, soil health, and agroecosystem sustainability. Over recent decades, accelerated erosion driven by intensive cultivation, inappropriate land management, and increasingly extreme rainfall has intensified soil degradation, nutrient depletion, sediment export, and non-point source pollution. At the same time, water conservation in farmland has emerged as a key pathway to improving anti-erodibility, sustaining productivity, and supporting climate-smart agriculture. This Special Issue aims to advance understanding of soil erosion mechanisms and water conservation processes in farmland across plot, hillslope, and watershed scales. We welcome studies addressing splash, sheet, rill, gully, and tillage erosion; rainfall erosivity, runoff generation and sediment transport; soil structure, infiltration, and moisture dynamics; and the effectiveness of conservation practices such as conservation tillage, mulching, cover crops, contour farming, terracing, vegetative barriers, and integrated soil–water management. Particular attention will be given to cutting-edge research using high-resolution monitoring, tracers, remote sensing, process-based modeling, machine learning, and multi-scale experiments. We solicit original research articles, reviews, methodological papers, and case studies that provide new insights into mechanisms, monitoring approaches, and practical solutions for reducing erosion, enhancing water retention and use efficiency, and promoting sustainable farmland management under changing environmental conditions.
Dr. Qingwei Zhang
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- soil erosion mechanisms
- soil and water conservation
- rainfall erosivity
- runoff generation
- sediment transport
- conservation tillage
- cover crops and mulching
- erosion modeling
- climate-resilient agriculture
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