Seedbank Dynamics in Agroecosystems

Dear Colleagues,

Seedbanks play a central role in plant population persistence and weed community dynamics in agroecosystems. Over the last few decades, advances in seed ecology have improved our understanding of dormancy cycling, germination ecology, seed persistence, and recruitment dynamics under agricultural management systems. More recently, attention has increasingly focused on the effects of climate variability, cover crops, tillage practices, and maternal environmental conditions on seed traits and seedbank behavior. However, important challenges remain in integrating ecological theory with practical weed management and predictive approaches for sustainable agroecosystems.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review articles focused on ecological, physiological, and environmental processes regulating seedbank dynamics in agricultural systems. The Special Issue will emphasize how management practices, environmental conditions, and seed traits influence dormancy, germination, emergence timing, persistence, and population dynamics.

Topics of interest include seed dormancy and germination ecology; maternal environmental effects on seed traits; seedbank persistence and depletion; seedling emergence modeling; climate change effects on recruitment dynamics; ecological impacts of tillage and cover crops; herbicide-resistant weed seed ecology; and predictive ecological modeling approaches for weed management.

We welcome original research articles, reviews, short communications, and methodological papers related to seed ecology and seedbank dynamics in agricultural and managed ecosystems. Studies integrating laboratory, greenhouse, field, and modeling approaches are especially encouraged.

Dr. Fernando Oreja
Dr. José L. Gonzalez-Andujar
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Seeds 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 1200 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.