Microplastics and Soil Nutrient Cycling in Agricultural Ecosystems
A Special Issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395) belonging to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 6
Editors
Interests: soil microbial ecology; microplastic pollution; microbial nutrient cycling and metabolism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant–soil interactions; soil processes; soil microbial ecology; soil carbon sequestration; application of n-15 tracer in soils research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Centro Ecotekne via Provinciale Lecce Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: mechanisms of mineral nutrient uptake in plants; impact of heavy metals on plant nutrient homeostasis; role of the rhizosphere microbiome in plant nutrient and heavy metal dynamics; sustainable agricultural practices for managing mineral nutrition and mitigating heavy metal stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: earthworm ecology and taxonomy; soil ecotoxicology; biochemical biomarkers; soil ecology; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues
Microplastics have become pervasive and persistent contaminants in agricultural soils, entering agroecosystems through plastic mulching, sewage sludge, compost, and irrigation. Their effects depend on polymer type, size, shape, concentration, and degradation state. By altering soil structure, microbial communities, enzyme activity, plant–soil interactions, and organic matter dynamics, microplastics may disrupt carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycling, with consequences for nutrient availability, fertilizer-use efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, crop productivity, and soil health. This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews that clarify these mechanisms under realistic agricultural conditions. Priority topics include biodegradable microplastics, plastic-derived carbon release, plastisphere formation, interactions with fertilizers, contaminants, roots, and soil fauna, and implications for sustainable management. Field experiments, long-term observations, isotope tracing, multi-omics, modelling, and standardized analytical approaches are particularly encouraged. By integrating soil science, ecology, and agronomy, this Special Issue aims to identify critical knowledge gaps and develop strategies that safeguard soil fertility and resilient food production.
Dr. Xiaojing Hu
Dr. Xuechen Yang
Dr. Alessio Aprile
Dr. Davorka Hackenberger
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
- microplastics
- agroecosystems
- soil nutrient cycling
- soil microbial communities
- biodegradable plastics
- carbon and nitrogen cycling
- greenhouse-gas emissions
- soil health
- sustainable agriculture
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