Soil Structural Degradation Evaluation in Sustainable Agroecosystems
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2020) | Viewed by 3166
Special Issue Editor
Interests: soil; structure; bulk density; aggregation; water; erosion; physics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil is the key component of the earth system, as it controls biogeochemical, erosional, and hydrological cycles. Soil is also necessary to achieve sustainable production in agroecosystems. However, soil is being degraded by the abuse of tillage, herbicides, compaction, and biodiversity depletion due to non-sustainable land management practices. Within soil, its structure is a key component that can be used as a land degradation index. Within structure, aggregate size and stability have been used as key parameters to survey soil and ecosystem health. The water retention capacity of soil, soil erodibility, and soil crusts are also examples of structural soil characteristics, and they can be used to identify soil degradation processes. This Special Issue will focus on methods to survey soil structure and determine how soil structure is a tracer of land degradation. Any research with information about soil structure and soil management changes is welcome. Methodological approaches, modeling, and case studies are also welcome. Soil water behavior (soil water retention, soil erosion, runoff generation, etc.) related to the human impact on soil structure is a key topic for this Special Issue, with the aim to provide case studies and to determine how soil structure is affected by such behavior.
Dr. Artemi Cerdà
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Soil
- Structure
- Aggregates
- Physics
- Water
- Degradation