Revealing the Role of Biochar in Regulating Soil Carbon and Nitrogen
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 111
Editors
Interests: biochar; plant nutrition; new-type fertilizers
Interests: nutrient regulation; efficient resources utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: biochar-based products; soil structure improvement; soil remediation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil carbon and nitrogen cycles are vital for fertility, productivity, and greenhouse gas emissions. Biochar, a sustainable carbon-rich amendment, is widely used, but its long-term field aging (e.g., leaching, freeze–thaw) alters its structure, soil carbon stability, and nitrogen transformations, triggering cascading microbial effects. However, variations in feedstock, pyrolysis, aging degree, and application rate cause inconsistent responses across soils and climates, limiting optimized biochar use.
This Special Issue seeks to reveal carbon sequestration mechanisms, nitrogen regulation pathways, and aging-driven responses using advanced analytics, omics, isotopes, and modeling. We invite original articles, reviews, and methods on biochar aging, soil carbon fractions, nitrogen processes, microbial regulation, greenhouse gas fluxes, and sustainable agricultural optimization. The key themes we seek to explore include the following areas of interest:
- Biochar regulation on soil organic carbon sequestration, carbon pool fraction turnover and organic carbon stability.
- Effects of biochar amendment on soil nitrogen fractions transformation and soil nitrogen retention capability.
- Carbon–nitrogen coupling relationship and stoichiometric balance of biochar-amended agricultural soil.
- Microbial community and functional gene mechanisms of soil carbon–nitrogen cycle regulated by biochar.
- Biochar dosage effects on farmland soil carbon sink capacity and nitrogen biogeochemical balance.
- Optimization and mitigation strategies for negative effects of aged biochar on farmland soil nutrients.
Dr. Jinfeng Yang
Prof. Dr. Cuncang Jiang
Prof. Dr. Yu Lan
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized 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 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
- biochar
- carbon sequestration
- nitrogen
- microbial regulation
- greenhouse gas fluxes
- aged biochar
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.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
