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Agronomy
Special Issues
Microbial Carbon and Its Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration
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Microbial Carbon and Its Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 3501

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xuechen Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, China
Interests: microbial community diversity; soil carbon cycle; soil fertility; enzyme stability; greenhouse gases emission; global change; soil multifunctionality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiaojing Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China
Interests: microbial ecology; carbon fixation; assembly mechanism; ecosystem multifunctionality; viral metagenome; host-phage interaction; auxiliary metabolic genes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The agroecosystem plays an important role in terrestrial carbon cycling. Soil carbon sequestration in cropland can not only offset fossil fuel emissions but also contributes to regional food security. Furthermore, soil microorganisms are ubiquitous and crucial participants in maintaining ecosystem functioning, such as soil organic matter decomposition, aggregate stabilization, nutrient cycling, and interactions with plants. Although microbial biomass carbon accounts for a small proportion of soil carbon content, it is considered as a transitional carbon repository responsible for carbon decomposition and sequestration. Understanding soil carbon dynamics and the relevant microbial driving mechanism is a pressing issue at the forefront of the study of carbon cycles under global change.

With this Special Issue of Agronomy, we seek to gather integrative studies that shed light on microbial carbon fluxes and their roles in soil carbon sequestration, as well as to offer original perspectives on the interactions between soil microorganisms and soil carbon sequestration. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that make use of state-of-the-art technologies, including stable and radioactive isotopes, multi-omics technology, big data or meta-analysis, and numerical modelling, to elucidate the microbial mechanisms of soil carbon sequestration in agricultural ecosystem.

Dr. Xuechen Yang
Dr. Xiaojing Hu
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 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

  • carbon sequestration
  • soil carbon cycling
  • soil microorganism
  • microbial biomass carbon
  • agronomy and soil
  • agricultural management
  • global change

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 9527 KiB  
Article
Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Soil CH4, CO2, and N2O Emissions and Their Global Warming Potential in Agricultural Peatlands
by Yao Shi, Xiaowei Wei, Lianxi Sheng and Xuechen Yang
Agronomy 2025, 15(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010115 - 4 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1114
Abstract
Globally, 14–20% of peatlands are affected by agricultural activities, which account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions from farmlands. However, how agricultural activities such as nitrogen fertilization affect peatlands’ CH4, CO2 and N2O emission patterns and [...] Read more.
Globally, 14–20% of peatlands are affected by agricultural activities, which account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions from farmlands. However, how agricultural activities such as nitrogen fertilization affect peatlands’ CH4, CO2 and N2O emission patterns and their resulting warming effects needs to be improved and complemented. Here, we elucidate the characterization of CH4, CO2 and N2O emissions from the soil surface and different depths of the soil profile during the growing season of agricultural peatlands for over 50 years and the mechanisms of their resulting global warming potential (GWP) impact through field monitoring and molecular techniques. The 100-year GWP of peatlands increased by 1200% with N fertilization of 260 kg N ha−1 yr−1. At the soil surface, N fertilization increased CO2 and N2O emissions by 111% and 2600%, respectively, although CH4 emissions decreased by 87%. In the soil profile, N fertilization had a significant effect on CO2 from 0 to 60 cm, resulting in an increase in CO2 concentrations of 14–132%, whereas the top 30 cm of soil was the zone of significant N fertilization effects, with CH4 concentrations decreasing by 49–95% and N2O concentrations increasing by 22–26%. Elevated soil pH and NH4+ were the key environmental factors influencing CH4, CO2 and N2O emissions and their resulting increase in GWP. These results suggest that agricultural N fertilization led to a change in the contributor to the GWP of peatlands from CH4 to N2O, especially in the top 30 cm of soil. This study helps to provide theoretical support for the development of effective peatland management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Carbon and Its Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration)
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14 pages, 1526 KiB  
Article
Changes in Soil Organic Carbon and Enzyme Activity After Land Use Change in Northeast China
by Yang Wang, Te Shan, Peng Zhang and Ming Li
Agronomy 2025, 15(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010091 - 31 Dec 2024
Viewed by 859
Abstract
In Northeast China, the establishment of irrigated paddy fields manifests on soil characterized as upland soils. However, the implications of soil conversion from upland soil to paddy soil for soil aggregates, soil organic carbon (SOC), and enzyme activity within soil aggregates remain poorly [...] Read more.
In Northeast China, the establishment of irrigated paddy fields manifests on soil characterized as upland soils. However, the implications of soil conversion from upland soil to paddy soil for soil aggregates, soil organic carbon (SOC), and enzyme activity within soil aggregates remain poorly understood. Exploring the repercussions of soil conversion on SOC is paramount in delineating enhanced strategies for ameliorating soil structure and bolstering organic carbon sequestration within terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the impact of land use modifications on SOC content and enzyme activity within soil aggregates. In this study, paddy (rice field) and upland (maize field) plots were selected from Mollisols in Northeast China, which is characterized by akin soil type, level topography, and climatic conditions. The results indicated that microaggregates represented the predominant fraction in both land use types, ranging from 36.96% to 48.99%, with a notably higher proportion in paddy soil compared to upland soil. After 40 years of rice cultivation, a significant decrease of 9.90% and 2.97% was observed in mean weight diameter and geometric mean diameter, respectively. In paddy soils, the SOC content in aggregates of varying sizes had the following order: macroaggregates (26.41 g kg−1) < microaggregates (21.91 g kg−1) < silt + clay (15.55 g kg−1) fractions. Similarly, in upland soil, the highest SOC content was found in macroaggregates, with the following sequence: macroaggregates (21.67 g kg−1) < microaggregates (17.44 g kg−1) < silt + clay (15.03 g kg−1) fractions. β-glucosidase (BG) displayed the highest enzyme activities, with average values of 95.99 nmol h−1 g−1 in paddy soil and 85.34 nmol h−1 g−1 in upland soil. Macroaggregate fractions exhibited the highest BG activity in both soil types (paddy: 112.49 nmol h−1 g−1, upland: 96.71 nmol h−1 g−1). In conclusion, the conversion from upland fields to paddy fields changes the occurrence mechanism of SOC in the aggregate, which is an important way of sustainable C sequestration in cropland ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Carbon and Its Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration)
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17 pages, 2331 KiB  
Article
Effects of Furrow Corn Straw Mulch on Soil Erosion and Organic Carbon Loss in Sloping Farmland in the Black Soil Region
by Haiou Shen, Hongli Li, Hang Liu, Jialong Wu, Chunli Li and Yushi Liang
Agronomy 2025, 15(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010066 - 29 Dec 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1024
Abstract
Black soil with high fertility is a valuable soil resource, which plays an important role in guaranteeing regional food security and ecological security. Straw return is also a widely recognized way of straw resource utilization. However, it is still not clear which corn [...] Read more.
Black soil with high fertility is a valuable soil resource, which plays an important role in guaranteeing regional food security and ecological security. Straw return is also a widely recognized way of straw resource utilization. However, it is still not clear which corn straw return method is more suitable for the Chinese black soil region with cold characteristics. The objectives of this study were to classify rainfall patterns (I—light rain with long duration, II—heavy rain with short duration, III—moderate rain with moderate duration; T1 and T2—special rains) and reveal the effects of furrow corn straw mulch—a new straw return—on soil erosion and organic carbon loss. Natural runoff plots (a planned size of 100 m2 and dimensions of 20 m × 5 m for each one) with or without the furrow corn straw mulch, which had slope gradients of 3°, 6° and 9°, were applied for natural rainfalls. Runoff and sediment samples were collected after each erosive rainfall to measure runoff, sediment, and organic carbon concentration. The results showed that when comparing treatments with the furrow corn straw mulch to control treatments, runoff coefficients, sediment concentration, and mean ratios of organic carbon loss in sediment to total carbon loss decreased by 48.0–97.7%, 45.6–99.7%, and 4.7–12.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the ratios of <0.053 mm sediment increased but the ratios of >0.25 mm sediment generally decreased. The mean organic carbon concentration both in runoff and sediment decreased in the following order: II > III > I > T1 > T2. Rainfall pattern II induced greater ratios of organic carbon loss. Therefore, the furrow corn straw mulch measure, which effectively decreased soil erosion and regulated organic carbon loss from the black soil, is suitable for the farmlands in the black soil regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Carbon and Its Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration)
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