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Biology
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Biogeochemical Element Cycling in Plant–Soil Systems: Implications for Ecosystem Dynamics...
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Biogeochemical Element Cycling in Plant–Soil Systems: Implications for Ecosystem Dynamics and Services

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 2099

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniel Puppe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Interests: biogeochemical element cycling; protist biodiversity; agricultural plant–soil systems; sustainable agriculture; effects of silicon on plants; ecosystem functioning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Wajid Zaman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea
Interests: plant biology; medicinal plants; plant biodiversity; phylogenetics; conservation; genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biogeochemical element cycling in plant–soil systems is fundamental for ecosystem dynamics and services. In general, the term ‘ecosystem dynamics’ describes changes in ecosystem structures caused by interactions of organisms with the external environment in an ecosystem. Ecosystem services include all ecosystem functions that are useful to humans like pollination, climate stabilization, or biomass production. In terrestrial ecosystems, plants represent the main primary producers of biomass (organic compounds) and oxygen through photosynthesis. In soils, myriads of micro- and macro-organisms recycle elements, maintaining soil fertility, which is essential for plant growth and corresponding ecosystem services. The knowledge of how these organisms and plants interact is crucial to understand ecosystem dynamics and services in general. Nowadays, terrestrial ecosystems and their services are strongly affected by global change, which represents a grand challenge for ecosystem management and policy. We are inviting research studies and review articles dealing with all aspects of biogeochemical element cycling in plant–soil systems and its implications for ecosystem dynamics and services. In this context, this Special Issue focuses on, but not limited to, the following research questions:

  • How does biogeochemical element (e.g., silicon, carbon, or nitrogen) cycling influence terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and services?
  • How do hetero- and autotrophic organisms interact in biogeochemical element cycling in plant–soil systems?
  • How does global change affect biogeochemical element cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and what consequences does this have for ecosystem dynamics and services?
  • How can ecosystem management and policy help to mitigate the effects of global change on biogeochemical element cycling and corresponding ecosystem dynamics and services?

Manuscripts regarding theoretical approaches, controlled field and/or laboratory experiments, and studies on non-manipulated terrestrial ecosystems are welcome. The aim of this Special Issue is to substantially deepen our understanding of biogeochemical element cycling in plant–soil systems and its effects on ecosystem dynamics and services in a changing world.

Dr. Daniel Puppe
Prof. Dr. Wajid Zaman
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 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. Biology 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 2700 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

  • autotrophs
  • biomass production
  • climate stabilization
  • ecosystem functions
  • ecosystem management
  • ecosystem policy
  • global change
  • heterotrophs
  • pollination
  • soil fertility
  • soil macro-organisms
  • soil micro-organisms

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5323 KiB  
Article
Silica Accumulation in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Plants and Implications for Potato Yield Performance—Results from Field Experiments in Northeast Germany
by Daniel Puppe, Jacqueline Busse, Mathias Stein, Danuta Kaczorek, Christian Buhtz and Jörg Schaller
Biology 2024, 13(10), 828; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13100828 - 16 Oct 2024
Viewed by 256
Abstract
The potato is the most important non-cereal food crop, and thus improving potato growth and yield is the focus of agricultural researchers and practitioners worldwide. Several studies reported beneficial effects of silicon (Si) fertilization on potato performance, although plant species from the family [...] Read more.
The potato is the most important non-cereal food crop, and thus improving potato growth and yield is the focus of agricultural researchers and practitioners worldwide. Several studies reported beneficial effects of silicon (Si) fertilization on potato performance, although plant species from the family Solanaceae are generally considered to be non-Si-accumulating. We used results from two field experiments in the temperate zone to gain insight into silica accumulation in potato plants, as well as corresponding long-term potato yield performance. We found relatively low Si contents in potato leaves and roots (up to 0.08% and 0.3% in the dry mass, respectively) and negligible Si contents in potato tuber skin and tuber flesh for plants grown in soils with different concentrations of plant-available Si (field experiment 1). Moreover, potato yield was not correlated to plant-available Si concentrations in soils in the long term (1965–2015, field experiment 2). Based on our results, we ascribe the beneficial effects of Si fertilization on potato growth and yield performance reported in previous studies mainly to antifungal/osmotic effects of foliar-applied Si fertilizers and to changes in physicochemical soil properties (e.g., enhanced phosphorus availability and water-holding capacity) caused by soil-applied Si fertilizers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemical Element Cycling in Plant–Soil Systems: Implications for Ecosystem Dynamics and Services)
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21 pages, 6523 KiB  
Article
Fire-Induced Changes in Soil Properties and Bacterial Communities in Rotational Shifting Cultivation Fields in Northern Thailand
by Noppol Arunrat, Chakriya Sansupa, Sukanya Sereenonchai, Ryusuke Hatano and Rattan Lal
Biology 2024, 13(6), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13060383 - 27 May 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 977
Abstract
Fire is a common practice in rotational shifting cultivation (RSC), but little is known about the dynamics of bacterial populations and the impact of fire disturbance in northern Thailand. To fill the research gap, this study aims to investigate the dynamics of soil [...] Read more.
Fire is a common practice in rotational shifting cultivation (RSC), but little is known about the dynamics of bacterial populations and the impact of fire disturbance in northern Thailand. To fill the research gap, this study aims to investigate the dynamics of soil bacterial communities and examine how the soil’s physicochemical properties influence the bacterial communities in RSC fields over a period of one year following a fire. Surface soil samples (0–2 cm depth) were collected from sites with 6 (RSC-6Y) and 12 (RSC-12Y) years of fallow in Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand at six different time points: before burning, 5 min after burning (summer), 3 months after burning (rainy season), 6 months after burning (rainy season), 9 months after burning (winter), and 12 months after burning (summer). The results revealed a reduction in the soil bacterial communities’ diversity and an increase in soil nutrient levels immediately after the fire. The fire significantly influenced the abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Planctomycetes, but not that of Actinobacteria. At the genus level, Bacillus, Conexibacter, and Chthoniobacter showed increased abundance following the fire. During the rainy season, a recovery in the abundance of the soil bacterial communities was observed, although soil nutrient availability declined. Soil physicochemical properties such as pH, organic matter, organic carbon, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, nitrate-nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, total nitrogen, bulk density, sand, and silt contents significantly influenced the composition of bacterial communities. Alpha diversity indices indicated a decrease in diversity immediately after burning, followed by an increase from the early rainy season until the summer season, indicating that seasonal variation affected the composition of the soil bacterial communities. After one year of burning, an increase in bacterial richness was observed, while the diversity of the bacterial communities reverted to pre-burning levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemical Element Cycling in Plant–Soil Systems: Implications for Ecosystem Dynamics and Services)
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