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Agriculture
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Thematic of Soil Ecological Functions in Agriculture
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Thematic of Soil Ecological Functions in Agriculture

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 August 2021) | Viewed by 14039

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Eric Blanchart

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Functional Ecology and Biochemistry of Soils and Agroecosystems, Institute of Research for Development, Montpellier, France
Interests: soil ecology; soil nutrient cycling; ecological intensification of agriculture; soil carbon cycling; earthworms; soil health; tropical cropping systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the development of agroecology, soils play a particularly great importance in the design of sustainable agricultural practices. They are the place of many ecological processes operated by free-living and symbiotic organisms interacting with each other in complex interactions. Soil biodiversity performs essential ecological functions, i.e. carbon transformations, nutrient cycling, soil structure maintenance, and the regulation of biological populations. Soil organisms also contribute to much needed agrosystem services such as primary production, plant resistance to disease and carbon sequestration. They also enable agrosystem sustainability and resilience. In the context of the agroecological transition, it becomes urgent (i) to decipher functional biotic interactions and understand the link between soil biodiversity and functions, (ii) to identify biotic and abiotic drivers of soil functions, especially in the context of climate change and invasive species, (iii) to promote practices and solutions which intensify these ecological processes.

The aim of this issue is to give highlights on the importance of soil ecological processes for agrosystem functions, services and agriculture sustainability. Manuscripts dealing with soil biodiversity, i.e. taxonomic and functional diversity (from microbes and fungi to macro-invertebrates), biotic interactions, ecological functions, belowground-aboveground relationships, and promoting ecological intensification practices in an agricultural context will be considered.

Dr. Eric Blanchart
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 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. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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 biodiversity
  • Ecological soil processes
  • Plant growth
  • Nutrient cycling
  • Carbon transformations
  • Biological regulation
  • Soil structure maintenance

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 392 KiB  
Article
Richness of Rhizosphere Organisms Affects Plant P Nutrition According to P Source and Mobility
by Jean Trap, Patricia Mahafaka Ranoarisoa, Usman Irshad and Claude Plassard
Agriculture 2021, 11(2), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11020157 - 16 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2674
Abstract
Plants evolve complex interactions with diverse soil mutualist organisms to enhance P mobilization from the soil. These strategies are particularly important when P is poorly available. It is still unclear how the soil P source (e.g., mineral P versus recalcitrant organic P) and [...] Read more.
Plants evolve complex interactions with diverse soil mutualist organisms to enhance P mobilization from the soil. These strategies are particularly important when P is poorly available. It is still unclear how the soil P source (e.g., mineral P versus recalcitrant organic P) and its mobility in the soil (high or low) affect soil mutualist biological (ectomycorrhizal fungi, bacteria and bacterial-feeding nematodes) richness—plant P acquisition relationships. Using a set of six microcosm experiments conducted in growth chamber across contrasting P situations, we tested the hypothesis that the relationship between the increasing addition of soil mutualist organisms in the rhizosphere of the plant and plant P acquisition depends on P source and mobility. The highest correlation (R2 = 0.70) between plant P acquisition with soil rhizosphere biological richness was found in a high P-sorbing soil amended with an organic P source. In the five other situations, the relationships became significant either in soil conditions, with or without mineral P addition, or when the P source was supplied as organic P in the absence of soil, although with a low correlation coefficient (0.09 < R2 < 0.15). We thus encourage the systematic and careful consideration of the form and mobility of P in the experimental trials that aim to assess the role of biological complexity on plant P nutrition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thematic of Soil Ecological Functions in Agriculture)
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14 pages, 970 KiB  
Article
Earthworm Inoculation Improves Upland Rice Crop Yield and Other Agrosystem Services in Madagascar
by Onja Ratsiatosika, Malalatiana Razafindrakoto, Tantely Razafimbelo, Michel Rabenarivo, Thierry Becquer, Laetitia Bernard, Jean Trap and Eric Blanchart
Agriculture 2021, 11(1), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11010060 - 13 Jan 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4789
Abstract
The effects of earthworm inoculation and cropping systems on upland rice systems were examined over a four-year period in the Highlands of Madagascar. Each year, endogeic earthworms Pontoscolex corethrurus (Rhinodrilidae) were inoculated (EW+) at a density of 75 ind m−2 or were [...] Read more.
The effects of earthworm inoculation and cropping systems on upland rice systems were examined over a four-year period in the Highlands of Madagascar. Each year, endogeic earthworms Pontoscolex corethrurus (Rhinodrilidae) were inoculated (EW+) at a density of 75 ind m−2 or were not inoculated (EW0). Inoculation was tested in three cropping systems: conservation agriculture (CA) and traditional tillage with or without residues restitution. Soil and plant properties were measured during the first three years while soil biological properties were assessed at the fourth year. At the end of the experiment, earthworm density was three-fold higher in EW+ than in EW0, demonstrating the success of the inoculation. Earthworm density was more important in CA than in tillage systems. Earthworm inoculation had higher significant effects on soil and plant properties than cropping systems. Earthworm inoculation had positive effects on soil macroaggregation (+43%), aboveground biomass (+27%), rice grain yield (+45%), and N grain amount (+43%). Intensifying earthworm activity in field conditions to meet the challenge of ecological transition is supported by our study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thematic of Soil Ecological Functions in Agriculture)
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13 pages, 626 KiB  
Article
The Role of Soil N2O Emissions in Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Study from China around 2006 when Agricultural Tax Was Abolished
by Xiaocang Xu, Lu Zhang, Linhong Chen and Chengjie Liu
Agriculture 2020, 10(5), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10050150 - 4 May 2020
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 5649
Abstract
The decision in 2006 to abolish the agricultural tax, which had lasted for thousands of years, contributed to the prosperity of agriculture, and with it the growing importance of soil N2O emissions in China. However, most of the previous literature ignored [...] Read more.
The decision in 2006 to abolish the agricultural tax, which had lasted for thousands of years, contributed to the prosperity of agriculture, and with it the growing importance of soil N2O emissions in China. However, most of the previous literature ignored soil N2O emissions due to their too small share in total agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper attempts to take soil N2O emissions as an important variable in the measurement of agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP), which incorporates environmental pollution into the analytical framework of agricultural production efficiency. Three impressive results were found. Firstly, soil N2O emissions play an increasingly important role in agricultural GHG emissions. The proportion of soil N2O emissions in agricultural GHG emissions increased from 4.52% in 1998 to 4.83% in 2006, and then to 5.36% in 2016. Secondly, the regional difference of soil N2O emissions in AGTFP is visible. In 2016, although soil N2O emissions accounted for a small proportion (about 5%) of the total agricultural GHG emissions in China, the AGTFP including soil N2O emissions was much lower than that excluding soil N2O emissions, especially in areas with high agricultural and population density. Finally, over time, soil N2O emissions have had an increasing effect on AGTFP. Compared with 1998–2006, the impact of excluding soil N2O emissions on AGTFP in 2007–2016 was more evident than that including soil N2O emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thematic of Soil Ecological Functions in Agriculture)
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