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Agronomy
Special Issues
The Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Evolution
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The Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Evolution

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2025) | Viewed by 1958

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yunfeng Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Interests: land use and land cover mapping; agricultural remote sensing; grassland remote sensing
Prof. Dr. Wei Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Interests: land use change; ecological system mapping and monitoring; remote sensing application
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wei Wan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
1. School of Resources & Environment, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China
2. Engineering Research Center of Watershed Carbon Neutralization, Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Education, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China
Interests: land use change; agricultural remote sensing; soil erosion evaluation of cultivated land; agricultural non-point source pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Land use is a comprehensive reflection of the land production activities carried out by human beings. The state of soil quality is an important factor in the sustainable development of the global biosphere and an important evaluation criterion for agricultural soil management. This Special Issue discusses the impact of land use change on the evolution of soil quality characteristics, and provides a scientific basis for the study of soil ecological processes and the final formulation of rational land management countermeasures.

This Special Issue will cover a broad range of topics, including the following:

  • Effects of land use/cover change on soil quality in ecologically sensitive areas;
  • Remote-sensing-based monitoring and assessment of land use/cover change and soil quality degradation;
  • Conservation tillage for soil quality conservation and fertility enhancement;
  • Long-term positional observations of cropland soil quality by different land use practices;
  • Effects of land use change on soil carbon or soil nitrogen cycling.

The article is not limited to model evaluation and remote sensing retrieval; related laboratory mechanism research is also encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Yunfeng Hu
Prof. Dr. Wei Wei
Guest Editors

Dr. Wei Wan
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 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

  • land use/cover change
  • soil quality
  • soil degradation
  • conservation tillage
  • soil carbon nitrogen cycling

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 3361 KiB  
Article
Monocropping Degrades Soil Quality Index and Soil Multifunctionality Compared to Natural Grasslands and Restored Shrubland in China’s Qilian Mountains (Based on Single-Year Sampling)
by Longji Zhang, Shaochong Wei, Hang Xiang and Xiaojun Yu
Agronomy 2025, 15(6), 1461; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15061461 - 16 Jun 2025
Viewed by 204
Abstract
As the ecological security barrier in northwestern China, understanding how natural grassland (NG) utilization pattern transformation in the northern Qilian foothills affects soil quality and ecosystem multifunctionality supports regional ecosystem management. The study compared soil chemical and biological properties, soil quality index (SQI), [...] Read more.
As the ecological security barrier in northwestern China, understanding how natural grassland (NG) utilization pattern transformation in the northern Qilian foothills affects soil quality and ecosystem multifunctionality supports regional ecosystem management. The study compared soil chemical and biological properties, soil quality index (SQI), and soil ecosystem multifunctionality (SMF) among four grassland utilization patterns in the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains, Gansu Province, China. Soil samples were collected in early October 2024 following crop harvest from the following systems: traditionally grazed NG, monocropping Hordeum vulgare (barley; MHV), monocropping Avena sativa (oat; MAS), and Hippophae rhamnoides shrubland (sea buckthorn; HRS). The results showed that compared with NG, SQI was decreased by 52.69% (p = 0.000059) under MHV treatment and by 18.78% (p = 0.03) under MAS treatment, while HRS did not have a significant reduction in SQI. Under the three patterns of transformative utilization of NG, SMF followed the order of HRS (0.11) > MAS (−0.06) > MHV (−0.51). Overall, the establishment of restoration vegetation (sea buckthorn shrubland) retained SQI under different grassland utilization patterns in the study area, whereas long-term monocropping resulted in significant reductions in SQI and SMF due to compromised chemical and biological properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Evolution)
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17 pages, 3305 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Resolution of Phosphorus Sources in an Agricultural Watershed of Southern China: Application of Phosphate Oxygen Isotopes and Multiple Models
by Dengchao Wang, Jingwei Tan, Xinhua Gao, Shanbao Liu, Caole Li, Linghui Zeng, Yizhe Wang, Fan Wang, Qiuying Zhang and Gang Chen
Agronomy 2025, 15(3), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15030663 - 6 Mar 2025
Viewed by 723
Abstract
Phosphorus is the primary contributor to eutrophication in water bodies, and identifying phosphorus sources in rivers is crucial for controlling phosphorus pollution and subsequent eutrophication. Although phosphate oxygen isotopes (δ18OP) have the capacity to trace phosphorus sources and [...] Read more.
Phosphorus is the primary contributor to eutrophication in water bodies, and identifying phosphorus sources in rivers is crucial for controlling phosphorus pollution and subsequent eutrophication. Although phosphate oxygen isotopes (δ18OP) have the capacity to trace phosphorus sources and cycling in water and sediments, they have not been used in small- to medium-sized watersheds, such as the Xiaodongjiang River (XDJ), which is located in an agricultural watershed, source–complex region of southern China. This study employed phosphate oxygen isotope techniques in combination with a land-use-based mixed end-member model and the MixSIAR Bayesian mixing model to quantitatively determine potential phosphorus sources in surface water and sediments. The δ18OP values of the surface water ranged from 5.72‰ to 15.02‰, while those of sediment ranged from 10.41‰ to 16.80‰. In the downstream section, the δ18OP values of the surface water and sediment were similar, suggesting that phosphate in the downstream water was primarily influenced by endogenous sediment control. The results of the land-use–source mixing model and Bayesian model framework demonstrated that controlling phosphorus inputs from fertilizers is essential for reducing phosphorus emissions in the XDJ watershed. Furthermore, ongoing rural sewage treatment, manure management, and the resource utilization of aquaculture substrates contributed to reduced phosphorus pollution. This study showed that isotope techniques, combined with multi-model approaches, effectively assessed phosphorus sources in complex watersheds, offering a theoretical basis for phosphorus pollution management to prevent eutrophication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Evolution)
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19 pages, 4354 KiB  
Article
Post-Agricultural Shifts in Soils of Subarctic Environment on the Example of Plaggic Podzols Chronosequence
by Timur Nizamutdinov, Sizhong Yang and Evgeny Abakumov
Agronomy 2025, 15(3), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15030584 - 26 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 580
Abstract
This study investigates the post-agricultural transformation of Plaggic Podzols in a Subarctic environment, focusing on the Yamal region, Western Siberia. Agricultural practices historically altered the natural Histic Entic Podzols, leading to their conversion into anthropogenic soils with enhanced organic matter and nutrient profiles. [...] Read more.
This study investigates the post-agricultural transformation of Plaggic Podzols in a Subarctic environment, focusing on the Yamal region, Western Siberia. Agricultural practices historically altered the natural Histic Entic Podzols, leading to their conversion into anthropogenic soils with enhanced organic matter and nutrient profiles. Using a chronosequence approach, soil profiles were analyzed across active and abandoned agricultural fields to assess changes in soil properties over 25 years of abandonment. Results revealed a significant decline in SOC (2.73 → 2.21%, r2 = 0.28) and clay (5.26 → 12.45%, r2 = 0.84), which is reflected in the values of SOC/clay and SOC/(silt + clay) ratios. Nevertheless, the values of the ratios are still above the thresholds, indicating that the “health” of the soils is satisfactory. We detected a decrease in Nt (0.17 → 0.12%, r2 = 0.79) and consequently an increase in the C:N ratio (18.6 → 22.1), indirectly indicating a decrease in SOM quality. Nutrient losses (NPK) with increasing abandonment periods were pronounced, with their concentrations indicative of soil quality degradation. Trace metal concentrations remained below pollution thresholds, reflecting minimal ecological risk according to Igeo, RI, and PLI indexes. The results highlight the necessity for further research on organo-mineral interactions and SOM quality assessment. The findings provide insights into the challenges of soil restoration in Polar regions, emphasizing the role of climate, land-use history, and management practices in shaping soil health and fertility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Land Use Change on Soil Quality Evolution)
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