New Insights in Soil Quality and Management in Karst Ecosystem

Dear Colleagues,

Karst landforms typically develop on carbonate rocks (e.g., limestone and/or dolomite) and are widely distributed on the Earth’s surface, covering > 22 million km² and affecting the life of 1.8 billion people worldwide. Due to the geological specificity, the arable land resources are limited in karst region, thus people often deforest on sloping land to plant crops. However, this cropping pattern induces some negative effects, such as large-scale “rocky desertification” in karst region. Furthermore, the slow growth and low yield of crops frequently happen to hinder the sustainable development of crop. Except for climate factors and management practices, soil quality is considered to be key factor affecting crop productivity.

Soil developed from carbonate rocks in karst region is characterized by large spatial heterogeneity, thin layer, high pH, calcium and magnesium contents, etc. These factors determine that the utilization of soil resources is extremely fragile in karst region. However, the researches on soil quality of cultivated land in karst region are still limited in karst region than non-karst region. Thus, the theory and technique of cultivated land fertility and enhanced nutrient use efficiency in karst region are the key issues that need to be systemically studied in the future. Within this special issue, we welcome the submission including original research and reviews, which can provide the new insights to assess soil quality and management across a wide range of land uses and land management systems in karst ecosystems. It includes case studies from karst ecosystems and the contributions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Land-use effects on soil quality
• The managements for increasing nutrient use efficiency
• The assessment and monitoring method of soil quality
• The difference in soil quality among karst landforms

Prof. Dr. Tongbin Zhu
Dr. Hui Yang
Guest Editors

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