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Soil Systems
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Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N...
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Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O

A special issue of Soil Systems (ISSN 2571-8789).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2023) | Viewed by 15120

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anna De Marco

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Via Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: soil quality; soil C sequestration; litter decomposition; soil microbial biomass and activity; fungal community; soil pollution; forest and arable soil; tecnosols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Claudio Colombo

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
Interests: soil spectroscopy; iron geochemistry; mineral humic acid interaction; iron in plant nutrition; soil environmental chemistry; fate and behaviour of heavy metals and metalloids in soils; soil genesis and mineralogy
Pasquale Napoletano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
Interests: soil quality; soil C sequestration; Technosols; soil microbial biomass and activity; soil diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; biostimulant; plant nutrition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soils provide many essential ecosystem services, such as climate mitigation and adaptation, as they constitute the main carbon reservoir in terrestrial ecosystems. The roles of soils and soil organic carbon (SOC) in the climate system and in the scenarios of climate change, land vertical development and degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased demand for food production have been widely recognized. Maintaining and increasing SOC stocks is not only crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere, but also to preserve soil health and fertility by improving resilience and resistance of all the terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, C and nitrogen (N) sequestration as well as emissions are strongly influenced by soil processes and edaphic communities’ activity. Millions of organisms, micro- and mesofauna included, exert a variety of functions which contribute to ecosystem-level processes as they degrade organic compounds and release nutrients, by contributing to soil respiration, with oxygen consumption and CO2 emission. In this context, new research should seek to fill the gaps into knowledge of the factors influencing soil metabolism, the fate of C and N along the soil profile, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions in different environments, from forest to agroecosystems, by including urban contexts.

Prof. Dr. Anna De Marco
Prof. Dr. Claudio Colombo
Guest Editors
Pasquale Napoletano
Guest Editor Assistant

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. 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.

Keywords

  • structural and functional diversity
  • soil processes
  • N and C sequestration
  • bacterial and fungal activity
  • meso- and micro-arthropods
  • gas exchanges
  • climate change
  • soil evolution

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3126 KiB  
Article
Biological Activities in Artificially Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Growing Substrates
by Stefania Papa and Marta Alvarez-Romero
Soil Syst. 2023, 7(4), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems7040111 - 11 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2181
Abstract
The ingestion of vegetables grown in soils or in cultivation substrate contaminated with heavy metals (HMs) and irrigated with wastewater is a potential problem for human health and food quality. The increasing disappearance of fertile soils has led to an increase in the [...] Read more.
The ingestion of vegetables grown in soils or in cultivation substrate contaminated with heavy metals (HMs) and irrigated with wastewater is a potential problem for human health and food quality. The increasing disappearance of fertile soils has led to an increase in the practice of soil-less cultivation and the use of growing substrates, but the choice of the right substrate and its sustainable management is essential to ensure the production of quality and safe vegetables for all while minimizing the impact on the environment and human health. The present study measures the combined effects of different HMs (V, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr) on microbial biomass, respiration, and enzyme activities (EAs) in an artificially contaminated commercial growing substrate. The concentrations of HMs were estimated by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy; enzyme activities via spectrophotometric assays; respiration via CO2 evolution; and microbial biomass C via the fumigation extraction method. The results showed a reduction in both respiration and all enzyme activities. The reduction in EAs highlighted a notable influence on microorganism-mediated C, N, S, and P cycles, strongly reducing substrate health. Microbial biomass did not show significant differences, but the increase in the metabolic quotient highlighted how the toxicity of HMs reduces the energy use efficiency of microbial metabolic processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O)
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21 pages, 1547 KiB  
Article
Quantifying the Immediate Response of Soil to Wild Boar (Sus scrofa L.) Grubbing in Mediterranean Olive Orchards
by Pasquale Napoletano, Costantina Barbarisi, Valeria Maselli, Daniela Rippa, Carmen Arena, Maria Grazia Volpe, Claudio Colombo, Domenico Fulgione and Anna De Marco
Soil Syst. 2023, 7(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems7020038 - 17 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1576
Abstract
The goals of the current research were to assess the immediate impact of invasive wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) in olive orchards of southern Italy. Over a one-year study, in grubbed and ungrubbed areas, we measured the seasonal changes on the fast [...] Read more.
The goals of the current research were to assess the immediate impact of invasive wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) in olive orchards of southern Italy. Over a one-year study, in grubbed and ungrubbed areas, we measured the seasonal changes on the fast soil biological and chemical responses at depths of 0–15 cm and 15–40 cm, and several leaf and fruit characteristics. The impact factor, IFG, was used to quantify the effects of wild boar on individual soil parameters. Grubbing induced an increase in the soil moisture at both depths. Soil pH, organic matter, and C/N ratio were higher in grubbed soils at 0–15 cm and lower at 15–40 cm compared to ungrubbed soils. These trends were reflected in the higher microbial community biomass and the inhibition of fungal fraction in grubbed topsoil, while an opposite tendency at 15–40 cm was found. Microbial biomass had the highest IFG in topsoil (94%) and metabolic quotient (85%) at a 15–40 cm depth. Microbial stress condition and C loss were found in grubbed soil at both depths. Furthermore, these soils were also shown to be of lower quality than ungrubbed soils, especially at 0–15 cm (SQI = 0.40 vs. 0.50, respectively). A stronger negative impact of wild boar grubbing was observed in the Autumn/Winter and for fruit polyphenol content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O)
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16 pages, 3490 KiB  
Article
Is the Current Modelling of Litter Decomposition Rates Reliable under Limiting Environmental Conditions Induced by Ongoing Climate Change?
by Maddalena Ranucci, Martina Perez, Danilo Lombardi and Marcello Vitale
Soil Syst. 2022, 6(4), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems6040081 - 25 Oct 2022
Viewed by 2329
Abstract
Plant litter decomposition is a key process in the biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. The main goal of this work is to determine the impact of current climate change on the decomposition process of the litter of Palo Laziale Wood (Rome, Italy), one [...] Read more.
Plant litter decomposition is a key process in the biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. The main goal of this work is to determine the impact of current climate change on the decomposition process of the litter of Palo Laziale Wood (Rome, Italy), one of the last remnants of the Tyrrhenian lowland forest. A time-dependent simulation of leaf litter decay was previously performed on a dynamic semi-empirical model based on Olson’s model (1963). It was also assumed that microbial activity depended on optimal temperature and moisture conditions simulated by Climatic Decomposition Index (CDI). The comparison between the observed and simulated leaf litter biomass reduction over time (t = −0.127, p = 0.901) highlighted the adequacy of CDI in reproducing biomass trends under limiting climatic conditions (high temperature and low precipitation). However, the decomposition model used here was not able to simulate the reduction of recalcitrant compounds (lignin) in strongly limiting conditions of water availability in the Palo Laziale Wood. These climatic conditions were attributable to climate change, which made the year 2020 representative of future years increasingly characterized by limiting climatic conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully calibrate the CDI in order to consider the current and future changes in temperature and water availability in the Mediterranean area, and to, therefore, perform a better model-based foreseeing for leaf litter decomposition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O)
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17 pages, 1865 KiB  
Article
A Nematode Community-Based Integrated Productivity Efficiency (IPE) Model That Identifies Sustainable Soil Health Outcomes: A Case of Compost Application in Carrot Production
by Alemayehu Habteweld, Alexandra N. Kravchenko, Parwinder S. Grewal and Haddish Melakeberhan
Soil Syst. 2022, 6(2), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems6020035 - 11 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2979
Abstract
Percent soil organic matter (SOM), pH and crop yield are among the biophysicochemical process-driven soil health indicators (SHIs). However, identifying sustainable soil health conditions using these SHIs is limited due to the lack of Integrated Productivity Efficiency (IPE) models. We define IPE as [...] Read more.
Percent soil organic matter (SOM), pH and crop yield are among the biophysicochemical process-driven soil health indicators (SHIs). However, identifying sustainable soil health conditions using these SHIs is limited due to the lack of Integrated Productivity Efficiency (IPE) models. We define IPE as a concept that identifies best-to-worst-case soil health outcomes by assessing the effect of agronomic practices on weighted abundance of functional guilds (WAFG) of beneficial soil organisms and SHIs simultaneously. Expressing WAFG of all beneficial nematodes (x-axis) and SHIs (y-axis) as a percent of untreated control and regression of x and y reveals four quadrants describing worst-to-best-case outcomes for soil health and sustainability. We tested the effects of composted cow manure (AC) and plant litter (PC) applied at 135 (1×), 203 (1.5×), and 270 (2×) kg N/ha on WAFG, SOM, pH, and yield in a sandy clay loam field of a processing carrot cultivar over three growing seasons. Untreated control and urea at 1× served as experimental controls. Data that varied by time and were difficult to make sense of were separated into sustainable, unsustainable, or requiring specific modification to be sustainable categories by the IPE model. Within the sustainable category, all AC treatments and 2× rate of PC treatments had the best integrated efficiency outcomes across the SHIs. The IPE model provides a platform where other biophysicochemical process-driven SHIs could be integrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O)
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Review

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30 pages, 1129 KiB  
Review
Photodegradation and Its Effect on Plant Litter Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Systematic Review
by Mohammed Bakr Hussain, Sara H. Al-Hadidi, Mohammad Bagher Erfanian, Mohamed Nejib Daly Yahia, Muhammed Nayeem Mullungal, Mohammed Alsafran, Yang Bai and Juha M. Alatalo
Soil Syst. 2023, 7(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems7010006 - 19 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4606
Abstract
Photodegradation is an important mechanism that affects carbon and nutrient cycling; a significant amount of data has been reported previously. The present review includes the effect of a wider spectrum of solar radiation (sun light, UV, and visible light) on plant litter decay [...] Read more.
Photodegradation is an important mechanism that affects carbon and nutrient cycling; a significant amount of data has been reported previously. The present review includes the effect of a wider spectrum of solar radiation (sun light, UV, and visible light) on plant litter decay in terrestrial ecosystems. Although the positive effect of photodegradation on decomposition is most common, a substantial number of studies reports contrasting results. Litter from 148 plant species, from 41 families, have been used in photodegradation studies, representing functional groups of trees (33%), graminoids (30%), shrubs (23%), forbs (11%), and peat (1%). Although the majority of studies focused on mass loss, a growing number focuses on nutrient release. Positive effects on mass loss are most common across different climate regions and laboratory studies, whereas “positive” influence and “no effect” on nitrogen and lignin release are equally common in temperate and sub-tropical environments. This may potentially be due to other decomposition processes which increase in relevance with increasing moisture and can facilitate microbial activity, leaching, and fractioning by soil fauna. In addition to climate region, initial litter quality influences photodegradation. Field-based and laboratory experiments frequently obtain contrasting results, suggesting that the mechanisms controlling the responses are unclear and might be dependent on several interactions, and/or the differences in experimental approaches (such as UV filters), or coverage by particles. Future research should focus on interactions between different factors, and on conducting experiments that test specific relationships such as the potential interaction between photodegradation, soil moisture, microbial communities, soil fauna, and their effects on litter decomposition (both mass loss and nutrient release). Furthermore, the topic would benefit from international studies applying the same experimental approach, as has successfully been conducted in other fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Metabolism and Biogenic Emissions of CO2 and N2O)
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