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Plants
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Chemical Properties of Soils and its Impact on Plant Growth
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Chemical Properties of Soils and its Impact on Plant Growth

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 1052

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Josefa Lopez-Marin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, Murcia Institute of Agri-Food Research and Development (IMIDA), C/Mayor s/n, 30150 Murcia, Spain
Interests: agronomy; agriculture; crop protection; horticulture; stress abiotic; hidromulch
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The physical and chemical properties of soil play a central role in plant growth, affecting the supply of air, nutrients and water, and soil fertility, the ability to support plant production, is created via the interaction of physical, chemical and biological processes. Among these properties, soil texture, pH and organic matter have a significant impact on soil function and water and nutrient supply. In terms of chemical properties, nitrogen and calcium carbonate are the two most important nutrients in crop production, playing key roles in cell structure and plant metabolism, ultimately affecting the content and quality of plant secondary metabolites.

This Special Issue aims to create a representative and updated collection of research articles and reviews regarding the chemical properties of soils and their impact on plant growth.

Dr. Josefa Lopez-Marin
Guest Editor

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. Plants 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 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.

Keywords

  • chemical properties
  • soils
  • plant growth

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3110 KiB  
Article
Effects of Artificial Vegetation Restoration Pattern on Soil Phosphorus Fractions in Alpine Desertification Grassland
by Hongyu Qian, Nairui Yang, Haodong Jiang, Yinan Li, Ao Shen and Yufu Hu
Plants 2025, 14(10), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14101429 - 10 May 2025
Viewed by 359
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth, but its soil availability depends on the characteristics of P fractions. However, few studies have examined soil P fractions under ecological restoration in alpine and semi-humid regions. This study investigated three restoration methods on the eastern [...] Read more.
Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant growth, but its soil availability depends on the characteristics of P fractions. However, few studies have examined soil P fractions under ecological restoration in alpine and semi-humid regions. This study investigated three restoration methods on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: planting mixed grasses (MG), planting Salix cupularis alone (SA), and planting Salix cupularis in combination with grasses (SG), restored for 14 years, with untreated sandy land (CK) as control. Through field sampling and laboratory analysis, soil P fractions and physicochemical properties were analyzed. The findings demonstrate that the three ecological restoration modes could increase total P and total organic P content and reduce inorganic P content. Ecological restoration can improve the content of soil labile P (resin-Pi, NaHCO3-Pi, and NaHCO3-Po) by activating NaOH-Pi and HCl-P, thus improving the availability of soil P and increasing the potential P (residual-P) source. Soil P fractions content positively correlated with SWC, SOC, and TN (p < 0.05) but negatively with BD and pH (p < 0.05). The experimental outcomes of this study will help to understand the P availability and its potential sources during ecological restoration while providing a scientific foundation for selecting optimal restoration strategies in alpine sandy land. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Properties of Soils and its Impact on Plant Growth)
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17 pages, 2595 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Effects of Nitrogen and Lime Application on Plant–Microbial Interactions and Soil Carbon Stability in a Semi-Arid Grassland
by Kwenama Buthelezi and Nkosinomusa Buthelezi-Dube
Plants 2025, 14(9), 1302; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14091302 - 25 Apr 2025
Viewed by 364
Abstract
This study investigated the long-term (70 years) effects of N fertilisation (ammonium nitrate [AN], ammonium sulphate [AS]) at 70 and 211 kg N kg/ha, and liming (L) on plant–microbial interaction and soil carbon stability in a semi-arid grassland in South Africa. Aboveground biomass [...] Read more.
This study investigated the long-term (70 years) effects of N fertilisation (ammonium nitrate [AN], ammonium sulphate [AS]) at 70 and 211 kg N kg/ha, and liming (L) on plant–microbial interaction and soil carbon stability in a semi-arid grassland in South Africa. Aboveground biomass increased with N addition, particularly AN211, showing a 119% increase compared to the control, while both liming and N applications increased belowground biomass. Nitrogen addition significantly altered plant stoichiometric ratios, with root N ratios showing greater treatment-induced variation (12.7–51.3) than shoot N ratios (10.2–16.8). Microbial biomass carbon peaked with AN70 treatment, while dehydrogenase activity was highest in lime-only plots but suppressed in non-limed N treatments. Conversely, urease activity was highest in the control group and suppressed in most fertilised treatments. Despite increased biomass production, SOC remained unchanged across treatments (49.7–57.6 g/kg), whereas soil pH was lowest (<3.5) and highest (>6) under N fertilisation and lime, respectively. PCA revealed distinct clustering of treatments, with N forms differentially affecting plant allocation patterns and microbial parameters. This study demonstrates that plant–soil–microbe stoichiometric imbalances and pH-induced limitations on microbial function explain the disconnect between plant productivity and carbon sequestration in this semi-arid grassland ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Properties of Soils and its Impact on Plant Growth)
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