Impacts of Pasture Management on Soil Processes, Productivity, and Environmental Sustainability
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 187
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ruminants; forage; grazing; greenhouse gases; pasture; digestibility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pasture management influences soil health, ecosystem functions, and agricultural sustainability. Unsustainable practices, such as overgrazing, monoculture planting, or excessive fertilization, can degrade soil structure, deplete organic matter, reduce biodiversity, and by extension, decrease productivity, increase erosion risks, and intensify environmental pressures. Conversely, strategies informed by ecological principles, such as rotational grazing, optimized fertilization, diversification of forage species, and targeted ecological restoration, can enhance soil fertility, improve water retention, promote carbon sequestration, and strengthen the overall resilience of the system. This can also lead to high-yield forage production, efficient ruminant utilization of forage, and high-quality conversion of plant or animal biomass into premium, market-relevant plant- or livestock-derived products.
Thus, for this Special Issue of Agronomy, we invite submissions of original research articles and comprehensive reviews that explore how pasture management affects the physical, chemical, and biological processes of soil, and how these changes subsequently impact productivity, ecological stability, and environmental outcomes. Relevant topics include soil organic carbon dynamics, nutrient cycling efficiency, microbial community composition and function, water infiltration and storage, as well as the trade-offs between productivity and sustainability under different management models.
Interdisciplinary research integrating perspectives from soil science, agronomy, ecology, and environmental science is particularly encouraged. By synthesizing existing knowledge and presenting innovative approaches, this Special Issue aims to support the development of science-based pasture management strategies, ensuring the sustainability and resilience of pasture systems in a changing climate.
Prof. Dr. Fujiang Hou
Guest Editor
Dr. Jiao Ning
Guest Editor Assistant
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-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 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
- soil health
- grazing management
- carbon sequestration
- pasture productivity
- environmental sustainability
- nutrient cycling
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