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Sustainability
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Soil Restoration and Sustainable Utilization
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Soil Restoration and Sustainable Utilization

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 307

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Bo Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Resources and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
Interests: bioremediation of organic pollutants in soil and sustainable utilization; regulatory response mechanisms and enhanced remediation of microorganisms in soil environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on advancing research in soil restoration and sustainable utilization, addressing critical challenges such as soil remediation, land degradation, ecosystem resilience, and soil carbon sequestration. With increasing pressures from climate change, agricultural intensification, and urbanization, developing effective strategies to restore degraded soils and enhance their long-term productivity is essential. The scope of this Special Issue encompasses innovative approaches to soil rehabilitation, including bioremediation, conservation agriculture, organic amendments, biochar application, and policy frameworks promoting sustainable land management. We encourage interdisciplinary contributions that integrate microbiology, agronomy, geochemistry, remote sensing, and socio-economic analyses to provide holistic solutions.

The purpose of this collection is to compile cutting-edge research that improves soil health, boosts agricultural productivity, and enhances ecosystem services while contributing to global food security and climate change mitigation. By fostering collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and practitioners, this Special Issue aims to bridge the gap between theoretical research and real-world applications. We invite original research articles, reviews, and case studies that explore scalable and sustainable soil management practices, particularly in understudied regions. This Special Issue will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers working toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Bo Zhang
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • soil remediation
  • soil restoration
  • sustainable utilization
  • soil restoration and sustainable utilization

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 2717 KB  
Article
Profile Differentiation of Soil Properties and Soil Organic Matter Quality as a Result of Soil Degradation in Drained Peatlands of the Temperate Zone
by Marcin Becher, Magdalena Banach-Szott, Dawid Jaremko, Agnieszka Godlewska and Natalia Barbarczyk
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 1096; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18021096 - 21 Jan 2026
Abstract
In achieving sustainable development goals, soils play a key role in environmental protection, natural resources, and food security. Peatlands are particularly important here, as they function at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and store large amounts of organic matter. However, organic [...] Read more.
In achieving sustainable development goals, soils play a key role in environmental protection, natural resources, and food security. Peatlands are particularly important here, as they function at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and store large amounts of organic matter. However, organic soils are highly susceptible to transformation and degradation; therefore, their degradation caused by, among others, drainage properties is a high risk to both the environment and agriculture—it disrupts the ecosystems, causes greenhouse gas emissions, and eutrophicates the hydrosphere. Soil degradation in drained peatlands is associated with the transformation of soil organic matter (SOM), which in organic soils is the dominant component of the solid phase of the soil. The aim of our study was to assess the properties and degree of organic matter transformation in drained temperate peatland soils, with particular emphasis on sequential fractionation of SOM and humic acid properties. Due to the fact that in Poland, as many as 90% of non-forest peat bogs have been drained, we compare the mursh horizons that formed after peat bog drainage with the peat horizons that constitute the parent rock (where anaerobiosis occurs and morphological changes in the soil material are absent due to peat bog drainage). Studies were conducted on 11 soil profiles located in central-eastern Poland. Basic physicochemical soil properties were determined: pH, bulk density, contents of ash, SOM, total carbon (TC), and total nitrogen (TN). Sequential carbon fractionation was used to qualitatively analyze organic matter, which allowed for the identification of labile fractions, lipid fractions, humic substances (fulvic and humic acids), and residual fractions. Humic acids (HAs) were extracted using the Schnitzer method and analyzed for their elemental composition and spectrometric parameters in the VIS range. It was demonstrated that SOM transformation in drained temperate peatland soils was correlated with comprehensive changes in the soil’s physical and chemical properties. Compared to peat horizons, topsoil horizons were characterized by higher ash content and density, lower SOM content, and a lower TC/TN ratio. Qualitative SOM transformation during aerobic SOM transformation after draining the studied peatlands consisted of an increase in the amount of labile fractions and humic substances and a decrease in the lipid and residual fractions. The research results have shown that the HAs properties depended on the depth. HAs from topsoil horizons, compared to peat horizons, were characterized by a lower “degree of maturity,” as reflected by the values of atomic ratios (H/C, O/C) and absorbance coefficients (A4/6 and ΔlogK). It was found that the share of the distinguished SOM fractions and HAs properties were closely correlated with the physical and chemical properties of the soils. The study demonstrated the usefulness of the sequential carbon fractionation method for assessing the effects of dewatered peat transformation. The obtained results could contribute to the development of good practices ensuring high quality of organic matter and stability of ecosystems, as well as to the development of methods for limiting the mineralization of organic matter (SOM), greenhouse gas emissions, and the loss of organic soils in agricultural areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Restoration and Sustainable Utilization)
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