Communities, Food Web, and Ecological Function of Soil Animals in Agricultural and Forest Land

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 12

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130012, China
Interests: Collembola; soil fauna; greenhouse gas; food web; stable isotope
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
Interests: soil micro-food web; soil biodiversity; nematode; soil organism functional diversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil animals—including protozoa, enchytraeids, nematodes, collembola, mites, earthworms, and other soil-dwelling invertebrates—are fundamental components of the soil ecosystem. They play crucial roles in carbon and nutrient cycling, biological control, functional maintenance, and overall ecosystem sustainability. As such, soil animals significantly contribute to the functioning and productivity of agricultural ecosystems. Understanding the functional roles of soil animal communities provides a scientific basis for improving agricultural practices and promoting the sustainable use of farmland.

This Special Issue will explore the effects of soil animal communities on agricultural systems. Topics of interest include soil animal interactions with key soil functions in farmland, the relationship between fertilization practices and soil fauna, and the interactions between soil animals and crops.

Prof. Dr. Liang Chang
Dr. Pingting Guan
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. Animals 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 2400 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

  • nematodes
  • Collembola
  • mites
  • soil invertebrate
  • earthworm
  • agriculture
  • crop

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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