Advances in Soil Health Restoration

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil degradation is a major challenge facing sustainable agriculture globally, involving issues such as organic matter loss, nutrient imbalance, heavy metal pollution, and structural deterioration. This Topic focuses on cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary strategies for soil health restoration, utilizing innovative methods such as environmental materials, nanotechnology, precision agriculture, and agronomic techniques to rebuild soil function and ecosystem resilience.

This Topic includes, but is not limited to, the following research areas:

1. Environmental Materials for Soil Remediation: Researching the application of environmental materials such as humic acid, biochar, and water-retaining agents in heavy metal passivation, nutrient retention, and soil structure improvement.
2. Nanotechnology Applications in Agriculture: Developing intelligent nanodelivery systems and green nanofertilizers to improve nutrient use efficiency and enhance soil-plant system health.
3. Agronomic Techniques and Soil Management: Investigating the integration of cover cropping systems, optimized tillage methods (including no-till, reduced tillage, and conservation tillage), and crop rotation strategies to improve soil organic matter, enhance soil structure, prevent erosion, and promote long-term soil fertility.
4. Agroecology Approaches for Soil Restoration: Exploring agroecological principles and practices, such as diversified cropping systems, integrated nutrient management, and the synergistic use of beneficial organisms, to restore soil biodiversity, strengthen ecosystem services, and build resilient agroecosystems.
5. Soil Biogeochemical Processes: Exploring soil nutrient cycling, organic matter transformation, and microbial community dynamics and their driving mechanisms for soil health restoration.
6. Climate-Adaptive Soil Management: Investigating water retention, carbon sequestration, and drought resistance mechanisms in combination with sustainable agronomic practices to enhance soil's adaptability and resilience to climate change.
7. Heavy Metal Pollution Remediation Technologies: Develop remediation methods such as passivation and phytoremediation to reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals and restore soil ecological functions.
8. Intelligent Soil Health Monitoring: Apply precision agriculture technologies and comprehensive evaluation systems coupled with field-based agronomic assessment tools to monitor and assess the effectiveness of soil health restoration.

This Topic aims to develop sustainable soil health restoration solutions through the interdisciplinary integration of environmental materials science, nanotechnology, biogeochemistry, precision agriculture, agronomy, and agroecology, thereby improving agricultural productivity and ensuring ecosystem health and food security.

Dr. Xiaoping Xin
Dr. Zhanbin Huang
Dr. Xi Zhang
Dr. Kaile Zhang 
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Agronomy agronomy	4.1	7.6	2011	17.7 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Forests forests	3.1	5.4	2010	17.3 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Land land	3.5	6.4	2012	16.4 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Pollutants pollutants	3.7	5.2	2021	28.3 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Sci sci	4.1	5.4	2019	28.2 Days	CHF 1400	Submit
Soil Systems soilsystems	4.1	6.9	2017	32.7 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Sustainability sustainability	4.1	8.9	2009	16.9 Days	CHF 2400	Submit

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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All Sustainability Agronomy Land Forests Soil Systems Sci Pollutants

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16 pages, 1850 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Divergence Patterns of Soil Physicochemical Properties, Microbial Target Gene Copies and Enzyme Activities Under Different Continuous Cropping Years

by Xueli Zhang, Dan Wang and Xianfu Yuan

Agronomy 2026, 16(19), 1947; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16191947 - 5 Oct 2026

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Abstract

Continuous cropping obstacles constrain the sustainability of intensive agricultural production, and investigating the dynamics of soil properties across different continuous cropping durations is important for the prevention and control of this problem. This study focused on field-grown Chrysanthemum morifolium and collected soil samples [...] Read more.

Continuous cropping obstacles constrain the sustainability of intensive agricultural production, and investigating the dynamics of soil properties across different continuous cropping durations is important for the prevention and control of this problem. This study focused on field-grown Chrysanthemum morifolium and collected soil samples from plots with continuous cropping durations of 1 year (CR1), 3 years (CR3), 5 years (CR5), and 10 years (CR10) with three independent replicate plots per treatment, to analyze the changes and interrelationships among key soil physicochemical and microbial properties. The results showed that different soil properties exhibited distinct divergence patterns with different inflection points. The activities of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolase and chitinase decreased significantly during the first 1–3 years of continuous cropping and recovered continuously from years 5 to 10, representing the earliest responses. The target gene copies of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. chrysanthemi (Foc) increased rapidly to a peak at CR5 and declined significantly at CR10; fungal target gene copies showed a similar pattern, peaking at 14.6 × 10⁷ copies·g⁻¹ in CR5. In contrast, bacterial target gene copies remained stable during years 1–5 but increased significantly by CR10. Meanwhile, fungal target gene copies (F), pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) all reached peaks or troughs between years 1 and 5, with significant rebound by year 10. Soil pH and EC dropped to their lowest levels in CR5 (pH 5.1, EC 85 μS·cm⁻¹) and recovered markedly by CR10 (pH 6.5, EC 150 μS·cm⁻¹). Soil organic matter, available phosphorus, and nitrate nitrogen increased continuously, with the highest values recorded in CR10, whereas ammonium nitrogen declined sharply to 0.52 mg·kg⁻¹ in CR5. Correlation analysis and random forest modeling indicated that bacterial target gene copies, FDA hydrolase, chitinase, nitrate (NO₃⁻), and pH were the most important predictors of Foc target gene copies, with fungal target gene copies ranking highest in predictive importance (%IncMSE = 26%), followed by bacterial target gene copies; the latter exhibited a significant negative association with Foc target gene copies. The proportion of antagonistic bacteria declined continuously from 6.0% to 1.0% during years 1–5 and recovered to 5.0% during years 5–10, exhibiting a trade-off pattern with Foc target gene copies. This study shows that different soil properties exhibit clear temporal divergence under continuous cropping, with microbial factors emerging as the dominant predictors of variation in pathogen target gene copies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Soil Health Restoration)

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15 pages, 3507 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Temporal Patterns of Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon and Potential Enzyme Activities in Two Karst Forest Enclosure Areas

by Gaocan Zhong, Qiang Wu, Shiyao Wu, Xingyan Chen, Qin Tan, Jiahai Wu and Yongkuan Chi

Agronomy 2026, 16(19), 1919; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16191919 - 2 Oct 2026

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Abstract

Forest enclosure is widely used in karst rocky-desertification landscapes, but field evidence remains limited for temporal soil microbial patterns. We characterized one naturally regenerated enclosure area (ZR) and one assisted-restoration enclosure area (RC) in Guizhou, China. Three fixed 10 m × 10 m [...] Read more.

Forest enclosure is widely used in karst rocky-desertification landscapes, but field evidence remains limited for temporal soil microbial patterns. We characterized one naturally regenerated enclosure area (ZR) and one assisted-restoration enclosure area (RC) in Guizhou, China. Three fixed 10 m × 10 m plots in each continuous area were resampled in January, April, and October 2025. The data set includes source-reported microbial biomass carbon (MBC), organic-matter (OM) records used for transparent SOC/qMBC sensitivity calculations, potential enzyme source records, and amplicon-derived functional predictions. The primary confirmatory analysis addresses MBC variation within each continuous area across the three repeated sampling occasions. MBC increased numerically from January to October in all six fixed plots, and exact plot-blocked tests supported within-area temporal variation in RC (q = 0.0278) and ZR (q = 0.0093). Because each restoration history is represented by one continuous enclosure area, numerical RC–ZR contrasts are descriptive only. OM-derived SOC/qMBC, enzyme records, and FUNGuild/PICRUSt2 outputs are retained as transparent sensitivity or exploratory materials; they do not support claims about carbon-use efficiency, nutrient limitation, direct functional activity, or general restoration effects. The study retains the ecological context and full visual record of the original work while providing an explicitly bounded, reproducible case description. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Soil Health Restoration)

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16 pages, 4450 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Within-Season Ecoenzymatic Responses to Cover Cropping in a Subtropical Agroecosystem

by Hamed Arfania, Tanjila Jesmin, Noel Manirakiza, Suraj Melkani, Jay Capasso, Hardeep Singh, Berson J. Valcin, Kevin Korus, Abul Rabbany, Tamara Serrano, Zachary Brym and Jehangir H. Bhadha

Soil Syst. 2026, 10(9), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems10090107 - 18 Sep 2026

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Abstract

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry links extracellular enzyme allocation to microbial resource-acquisition patterns, yet its behavior in managed subtropical soils remains poorly resolved. This uncertainty is especially important where strong edaphic heterogeneity may modify within-season enzyme patterns. We compared Pre (before cover-crop planting) and Post (after [...] Read more.

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry links extracellular enzyme allocation to microbial resource-acquisition patterns, yet its behavior in managed subtropical soils remains poorly resolved. This uncertainty is especially important where strong edaphic heterogeneity may modify within-season enzyme patterns. We compared Pre (before cover-crop planting) and Post (after cover-crop termination) soils in two contrasting Florida agroecosystems: a calcareous South Florida Summer system (six farms; n = 104) and a sandy North Florida Winter system (four farms; n = 90). Each system was analyzed independently because season, geography, soil order, and cover-crop assemblage were confounded. In the Summer system, BG and NAG were higher Post than Pre, whereas ACP and AS did not differ significantly; vector length was lower Post, while circular vector-angle summaries remained within the P-acquisition domain. In the Winter system, BG, NAG, ACP, and microbial biomass C were lower Post, whereas AS was higher; C:N and N:P enzyme ratios did not differ significantly, and only C:P declined. Circular statistics showed that apparent shifts based on arithmetic vector-angle means could result from angular wraparound at ±180°. Variance partitioning indicated a larger pure Phase fraction in Summer than Winter, but these fractions are descriptive within-system associations rather than evidence of a climatic effect. Overall, ecoenzymatic responses differed between Pre and Post phases in a system-specific manner, and circular treatment of vector angles together with soil-specific interpretation is necessary for robust subtropical soil-health assessment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Soil Health Restoration)

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17 pages, 504 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Off-Farm Income Shares and Farmers’ Adoption of Arable Land Protection Practices: Evidence from the Jianghan Plain, China

by Gaodi Yang, Meng Yue, Shan Jin, David Coles and Lynn J. Frewer

Sustainability 2026, 18(17), 8731; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18178731 - 26 Aug 2026

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Abstract

Using a Poisson regression model with a quadratic term and data from a 2022 survey of rice farmers across 10 counties in China’s Jianghan Plain, this study examines how the off-farm income shares are associated with the interplay between survival and sustainability imperatives [...] Read more.

Using a Poisson regression model with a quadratic term and data from a 2022 survey of rice farmers across 10 counties in China’s Jianghan Plain, this study examines how the off-farm income shares are associated with the interplay between survival and sustainability imperatives in farmers’ adoption of arable land protection (ALP) practices. The results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between the off-farm income shares and ALP adoption. However, the off-farm income shares are negatively associated with ALP adoption overall. The association is consistent with several channels: disruption of farming time, increased distance from cropland, reduction in operational scale, and weakened awareness of ALP. Furthermore, significant differences in ALP adoption are observed among full-time farmers, part-time I farmers, and part-time II farmers, with the latter exhibiting the lowest level of ALP adoption. These findings provide empirical evidence on how off-farm income shares correlate with land management decisions and offer implications for tailored agricultural policy interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Soil Health Restoration)

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25 pages, 7136 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Electrokinetic Remediation of Copper-And Lead-Contaminated Loess Using Novel Hydrogel Electrodes Coupled with a Permeable Reactive Barrier Composed of Modified Activated Carbon and Carbon Fiber

by Bin Li, Wenle Hu, Shixu Zhang and Zhanhong Jia

Sustainability 2026, 18(17), 8692; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18178692 - 25 Aug 2026

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Abstract

Copper and lead contamination in loess areas poses a potential threat to soil environmental quality and sustainable land use, while the low permeability, high clay content, and strong buffering capacity of loess often limit the efficiency of conventional electrokinetic (EK) remediation. In this [...] Read more.

Copper and lead contamination in loess areas poses a potential threat to soil environmental quality and sustainable land use, while the low permeability, high clay content, and strong buffering capacity of loess often limit the efficiency of conventional electrokinetic (EK) remediation. In this study, a modified activated carbon–carbon fiber (MAC–CF) composite reactive barrier was introduced into an EK remediation system to enhance the soil-phase depletion of Cu and Pb from contaminated loess. The effects of ordinary activated carbon (AC), MAC, CF, and different MAC–CF mixing ratios on current, cumulative electroosmotic flow (EOF), soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and potentially toxic metal (PTM) removal were systematically investigated. The conventional AC barrier increased system resistance and inhibited current transmission and EOF. The MAC barrier exhibited enhanced OH⁻ adsorption and buffering capacity, decreasing the cathode-adjacent pH from approximately 9.8 to 8.8. CF incorporation improved barrier conductivity, increasing the peak current from 1.6 A for MAC (100%) to 4.0 A for MAC (25%) + CF (75%), while cumulative EOF increased from approximately 380 to 950 mL. The MAC (25%) + CF(75%) barrier provided the best balance between conductivity enhancement and cathodic alkalization regulation. Sectional Cu removal reached approximately 90% near the anode, whereas Pb removal ranged from approximately 18% to 29%, with a section-weighted mean of about 24.8%. The corresponding residual Pb concentrations (approximately 355–410 mg kg⁻¹) indicate that the system is more effective for Cu and would require additional treatment to meet a conservative agricultural-soil target for Pb. The results support complementary functions of CF in maintaining conductive pathways and MAC in regulating cathodic alkalization. Because Cu and Pb in the spent barrier and electrolyte chambers were not quantified, the proposed precipitation-suppression and migration mechanisms are interpreted from the combined electrochemical, pH, EC, adsorption, and soil-residual evidence rather than from a complete metal mass balance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Soil Health Restoration)

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