Effects of Earthworms on Soil Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Earthworms are ecosystem engineers that manipulate the biological, chemical, and physical attributes of the soil system with cascading ecosystem-wide effects. These effects are commonly regarded as having positive effects on the provisioning of ecosystem services. However, in cases where earthworms are introduced into earthworm-free ecosystems, their activities can negatively impact the soil system and the associated ecosystem commonly assessed by measures like intensity of erosion, soil biodiversity, and retention of carbon. In this Special Issue, I aim to curate papers that report on how earthworms affect soil properties or the ensuing ecological processes.

Papers are invited on the effect of earthworms on the soil system from regions where earthworms are endemic or exotic. Submissions could report, for example, on earthworm-related effects on soil structure from the aggregate to pedon scale, biogeochemical cycles, agricultural properties, the habitability of microhabitats, the composition of the soil community, or the evolution of greenhouse gases. Manuscripts that report on original research, literature surveys, and meta-analyses are welcome. However, works that shed light on how soil properties influence the assembly of earthworm communities or indeed the presence and absence of earthworms are also of interest.

Dr. Josef H. Gorres
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 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. Soil Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1800 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.