Microorganisms in Recycling and Valorization of Organic Waste for Sustainable Soil Health and Management

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural intensification constitutes one of the most prevalent challenges of the twenty-first century because of continuous global population growth. This has given rise to several critical environmental concerns, such as enhanced greenhouse gas emissions and pesticide use, groundwater eutrophication, reduced aboveground biodiversity, degradation of soil quality, and soil erosion. The application of organic wastes as soil amendments has been proposed as an effective way of restoring soil fertility while at the same time protecting the environment. However, if not properly disposed of and treated, the use of raw wastes as soil inputs can be a serious threat to the environment. The adoption of biological approaches including composting, vermicomposting, or methanogenic processes may offer the possibility of stabilizing them before their use or disposal achieving a dual purpose, i.e., environmental protection and fertilizer production. Considering that the involvement of microorganisms in these processes is fundamental, we invite you to send contributions focusing on the characterization of microbial communities, from a taxonomic and functional perspective, involved in the dynamics of the abovementioned processes. Another crucial aspect to be considered within this Special Issue will be to evaluate the usefulness of raw and treated organic wastes (composts, vermicomposts, and digestates) as soil organic amendments. Special attention will be given to their impact on soil microbial communities (in terms of abundance, taxonomy, and functionality), nutrient cycling, and plant yields under field and greenhouse conditions so as to evaluate their role as bio-indicators of soil quality.

Dr. María Gómez-Brandón
Dr. José A. Siles
Dr. Mercedes Garcıá-Sánchez
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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.