Soil Organic Carbon Chemistry and Nutrient Bioavailability: Molecular Mechanisms for Sustainable Agriculture
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editor
Interests: soil environmental chemistry; soil ecology; soil microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With the global population set to approach 10 billion people by 2050, sustainable agriculture faces critical challenges in maintaining soil fertility while enhancing nutrient use efficiency. Consequently, this Special Issue seeks to explore how soil organic carbon chemistry governs nutrient bioavailability at the molecular level, addressing the fundamental mechanisms that are essential for the development of precision nutrient management strategies.
Recent advances in spectroscopic techniques have revealed that specific structural components of organic carbon —particularly aromatic, aliphatic, and carbonyl carbon—play crucial roles in controlling nutrient transformation processes, enzyme activities, and microbial dynamics. Aromatic carbon compounds can enhance phosphorus bioavailability through competitive sorption mechanisms while serving as energy sources for phosphatase-producing microorganisms, demonstrating the complex carbon–nutrient coupling processes.
This collection seeks contributions that employ cutting-edge analytical approaches to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying carbon–nutrient interactions, with special emphasis placed on papers linking fundamental soil chemistry with practical agricultural applications. Topics include the molecular characterization of soil organic carbon, enzyme-mediated nutrient cycling, microbial community responses, and management practices optimizing carbon chemistry for enhanced nutrient efficiency.
By integrating knowledge from soil chemistry, microbial ecology, plant nutrition, and agricultural management, this Special Issue will provide a comprehensive framework for evidence-based sustainable nutrient management strategies that benefit farmers, consumers, and environmental integrity.
Dr. Wei Zhao
Guest Editor
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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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
- soil organic carbon
- nutrient bioavailability
- molecular mechanisms
- sustainable agriculture
- carbon chemistry
- enzyme activity
- microbial ecology
- precision nutrient management
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