Impact of Agronomic Practices on Topographic Features, Soil Health in Erosion Model Optimization
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2025 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: tillage practices; soil topographic features; soil physico-chemical properties; soil structural characteristics; soil erosion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sediment yields; agricultural activities; soil erosion; soil loss; soil properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sustainable agriculture is pivotal in addressing global food security and environmental resilience, yet it faces significant challenges from soil degradation and erosion. Agronomic practices—the methods employed in crop and land management—profoundly influence both the physical landscape and the biological vitality of agricultural systems. These practices, ranging from tillage techniques to crop rotation and contour farming, not only determine soil health but also reshape topographic features over time, creating dynamic interactions that affect erosion rates and long-term land productivity.
Topographic features, such as slope gradients and surface roughness, are traditionally viewed as static elements in agricultural planning. However, agronomic activities can induce gradual yet significant alterations, such as terracing effects from contour plowing or gully formation due to unchecked water erosion. Concurrently, soil health—encompassing organic matter content, structure, and microbial activity—is directly impacted by practices like intensive tillage or cover cropping, which either degrade or enhance the soil’s capacity to resist erosion.
Despite advances in erosion modeling, tools like the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) often overlook the bidirectional relationships between management practices, evolving topography, and soil health dynamics. Current models may insufficiently account for how specific practices alter sediment transport pathways or improve soil cohesion, limiting their predictive accuracy. Optimizing these models requires integrating multidisciplinary insights into how agronomic strategies modulate both geomorphic processes and soil properties.
This Special Issue focuses on the assessment of agronomic practices in determining soil health, topographic features in erosion model optimization. Research articles will cover a broad range of agricultural activities from a series of land use types, including bare land, woodland, abandoned land, and field grassland, as well as cutting-edge research, including simulated tillage, 3D laser scanning technology, etc. All types of articles, such as original research, opinions, and reviews, are welcome.
Prof. Dr. Yong Wang
Prof. Dr. Yunqi Zhang
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 activity
- crop productivity
- soil redistribution
- tillage practice
- soil property
- soil topographic features
- landscape positions
- soil erosion
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
