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Special Issue "Soil Degradation and Remediation"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2023 | Viewed by 3473

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ilyusya M. Gabbasova

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Soil Science, Ufa Institute of Biology UFRC RAS, Ufa 450054, Russia
Interests: soil properties; amendments; heavy metals; soil remediation; fertilizers

Dr. Mikhail Komissarov

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Soil Science, Ufa Institute of Biology UFRC RAS, Ufa 450054, Russia
Interests: soil erosion; rainfall simulation; radiocesium; snowmelt; irrigation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil is the most important component of the biosphere, without which neither its normal functioning nor the production of food to mankind is possible. The land area on Earth is 14.9 billion ha, and all the most suitable soils for agriculture (about 11% of land) are already used. More than half of arable soils are degraded at different levels. According to the UN, 12 million ha of land (23 ha per minute) are lost every year due to drought and desertification alone.

Soil degradation types are divided into water and wind erosion, salinization, loss of nutrients and soil organic matter (with CO₂ emission into the atmosphere), pollution, waterlogging, desertification, etc. These processes are caused by anthropogenic impact to a large extent. The intensity some of them has increased significantly due to global climate change.

Objective diagnostics and development of evaluation criteria are necessary to select adequate measures to reduce degradation processes and soil remediation. The restoration of soil fertility is an important part of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Changing of soil properties under prolonged climatic and anthropogenic impact (desertification, waterlogging, ploughing, fertilizing, etc.);
Laboratory and field study of soil erosion caused by rainfall, snowmelt, fires, irrigation, etc.;
Impact of pollutants (heavy metals, including radioisotopes) and amendments on soil properties and crop yield;
All aspects of the remediation of degraded soils;
Digital soil mapping and remote sensing approaches in agriculture.

Prof. Dr. Ilyusya M. Gabbasova
Dr. Mikhail Komissarov
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. 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 2000 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

degradation
erosion
desertification
waterlogging
salinization
soil pollution
climate change
soil remediation
fertility

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Drying Process and the Influencing Factors of Desiccation Cracking of Cohesive Soda Saline-Alkali Soil in the Songnen Plain, China

and

Agriculture 2023, 13(6), 1153; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13061153 - 30 May 2023

Viewed by 105

Abstract

The surface of cohesive soda saline-alkali soil in the Songnen Plain of China exhibits obvious desiccation cracking phenomenon during water evaporation. Quantitative research on the process and influencing factors of desiccation cracking are significant for determining the mechanical properties of salt-affected soil, improving the salinization status and the local ecological environment. This study aims to conduct laboratory-controlled cracking experiments on soda saline-alkali soils, and to regularly measure the soil moisture and the cracking status of 40 soil samples. After processing the crack images uniformly, crack characteristics including crack length, crack area, contrast texture feature, and box-counting fractal dimension are extracted. The results indicate that the decrease in soil moisture can be divided into three stages such as fast evaporation stage, slow evaporation stage and stable evaporation stage, and that the evaporation rate shows a linear negative correlation with soil salinity. The measurements also indicate that crack length rapidly increases and reaches stability with a decrease in water content compared with the crack area. The high correlation between different crack characteristics and the soil total salinity (correlation coefficient from 0.44 to 0.95) shows that salt content is the dominant factor affecting the desiccation cracking of soda saline-alkali soil. A multiple linear regression prediction model was finally established based on crack characteristics for different salinity parameters with high prediction accuracy for Na⁺, EC and total salinity (R² > 0.91 and RPD > 2.5) and also certain prediction accuracy for Cl⁻ and CO₃²⁻ (R² > 0.66 and RPD > 1.5). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Degradation and Remediation)

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Open AccessArticle

Promising Strains of Hydrocarbon-Oxidizing Pseudomonads with Herbicide Resistance and Plant Growth-Stimulating Properties for Bioremediation of Oil-Contaminated Agricultural Soils

Tatyana Korshunova

Elena Kuzina

Svetlana Mukhamatdyarova

Yuliyana Sharipova

and

Milyausha Iskuzhina

Agriculture 2023, 13(6), 1111; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13061111 - 23 May 2023

Viewed by 244

Abstract

Nowadays, large areas of agricultural land are contaminated with chemical plant-protection products. Agricultural soils are also susceptible to oil pollution as a result of accidents on oil pipelines. Bioremediation of such soils from oil with the help of hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria is hindered by the presence of additional pollutants such as herbicides. In this work, seven strains of Pseudomonas were isolated and identified, which showed differences in ability of oil biodegradation (32.7–77.3%). All strains showed resistance to herbicides based on 2,4-D and substances from the class of imidazolinones, possessed phosphate-solubilizing and nitrogen-fixing activity, and produced indolyl-3-acetic acid (305–1627 ng/mL culture liquid). They stimulated the growth of barley and clover in soil with oil, as well as the growth of clover in soil with herbicide. In a vegetative experiment (duration 30 days, initial oil content in soil 2% wt., herbicide based on imazethapyr 0.002% wt.) of barley plants and P. alcaligenes UOM 10 or P. frederiksbergensis UOM 11, oil degradation was 48.1–52.7%, the same strains and clover plants, 37.9–38.6%. The studied bacteria have the potential to be used in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated agricultural soils, including in combination with phytomeliorant plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Degradation and Remediation)

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Open AccessArticle

Random Forest Modeling of Soil Properties in Saline Semi-Arid Areas

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Agriculture 2023, 13(5), 976; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13050976 - 28 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 597

Abstract

The problem of salinization/spreading of saline soils is becoming more urgent in many regions of the world, especially in context of climate change. The monitoring of salt-affected soils’ properties is a necessary procedure in land management and irrigation planning and is aimed to obtain high crop harvest and reduce degradation processes. In this work, a machine learning method was applied for modeling of the spatial distribution of topsoil (0–20 cm) properties—in particular: soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, and salt content (dry residue). A random forest (RF) machine learning approach was used in combination with environmental variables to predict soil properties in a semi-arid area (Trans-Ural steppe zone). Soil, salinity, and texture maps; topography attributes; and remote sensing data (RSD) were used as predictors. The coefficient of determination (R²) and the root mean square error (RMSE) were used to estimate the performance of the RF model. The cross-validation result showed that the RF model achieved an R² of 0.59 and an RMSE of 0.68 for SOM; 0.36 and 0.65, respectively, for soil pH; and 0.78 and 1.21, respectively for dry residue prediction. The SOC content ranged from 0.8 to 2.8%, with an average value of 1.9%; soil pH ranged from 5.9 to 8.4, with an average of 7.2; dry residue varied greatly from 0.04 to 16.8%, with an average value of 1.3%. A variable importance analysis indicated that remote sensing variables (salinity indices and NDVI) were dominant in the spatial prediction of soil parameters. The importance of RSD for evaluating saline soils and their properties is explained by their absorption characteristics/reflectivity in the visible and near-infrared spectra. Solonchak soils are distinguished by a salt crust on the land surface and, as a result, reduced SOC contents and vegetation biomass. However, the change in saline and non-saline soils over a short distance with mosaic structure of soil cover requires high-resolution RSD or aerial images obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle/drones for successful digital mapping of soil parameters. The presented results provide an effective method to estimate soil properties in saline landscapes for further land management/reclamation planning of degraded soils in arid and semi-arid regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Degradation and Remediation)

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Open AccessArticle

Quantification of Impact of Land Use Systems on Runoff and Soil Loss from Ravine Ecosystem of Western India

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Agriculture 2023, 13(4), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040773 - 27 Mar 2023

Viewed by 682

Abstract

Ravine and gully formations are both spectacular and also the worst forms of water-induced soil erosion and have in situ and ex situ impact on geomorphology, hydrology, productivity and environmental security, and they are the root causes of degradation of marginal and adjacent land along with reduced production potential. A long-term (2011–2019) study was conducted on marginal land of the Chambal ravine to assess the impact of six land uses, i.e., Agriculture (T₁—Rainfed Soybean), Agri-horticulture (T₂—Soybean + Manilkara achras), Horti-Pastoral (T₃—Emblica officinalis + Cenchurus ciliaris), Pasture (T₄—C. ciliaris), Silviculture (T₅—Acacia nilotica) and Silvi-pasture (T₆—A. nilotica + C. Ciliaris) on soil properties, runoff interception, sediment trapping and soil loss reduction. The lowest average annual soil loss (4.83 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) and runoff (109.52 mm) were recorded under T₄, while the highest sediment loss (8.09 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) and runoff (136.07 mm), respectively, were under T₅. The runoff coefficient of land uses was in the order of T₃ (20.30%) < T₄ (20.56%) < T₁ (21.95%) < T₂ (22.26%) < T₆ (22.83%) < T₅ (25.54%). The C. ciliaris improved bulk density and recorded lowest in horti-pasture (1.63 ± 0.04 g cm⁻³) followed by pasture (1.66 ± 0.03 g cm⁻³) land use system. The active SOC content in pasture, horti-pasture and silvi-pasture was 0.95, 0.87 and 0.64 times higher, respectively, than agriculture land use. Under pure C. ciliaris cover, resistance to penetration varied from 0.68 to 1.97 MPa, while in silviculture land use, it ranges from 1.19 to 2.90 Mpa. Grass cover had substantial impact on soil loss and runoff reduction, SOC content, soil aggregation and resistance to penetration. In degraded ecosystems, Cenchrus ciliaris can be used alone and in combination with plants for protection of natural resources from water-induced soil erosion, runoff conservation, soil quality improvement and maximization of precipitation water use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Degradation and Remediation)

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Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Earthworm Viability and Soil Health after Two Years of Raw and Composted De-Inking Paper Sludge Amendment

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Agriculture 2023, 13(3), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030547 - 24 Feb 2023

Viewed by 702

Abstract

The improvement of soil fertility properties is a priority for meeting sustainable development goals and world food security. One potential benefit of using paper sludge in agriculture is the reduction of waste and associated environmental impacts. By using paper sludge as a soil amendment, it is possible to divert away this material from landfills and instead use it to improve soil fertility and support the growth of crops. However, it is important to note that paper sludge may contain contaminants harmful to plants and soil health, of which earthworm viability serves as a key indicator. The present investigation aimed to evaluate changes in soil properties after the application of raw and composted de-inking paper sludge for two years. Accordingly, a field study was conducted in Manouba, a semi-arid region of Tunisia with a clay loam soil. The raw de-inking sludge (DS) and composted de-inking paper sludge (DSC) were applied at 30 and 60 t ha⁻¹ and 20 and 40 t ha⁻¹, respectively. Soil treatments were compared to unamended soils (C), to determine the optimal sludge treatment and rate for increasing the soil quality. Soil chemical (soil organic matter SOM, total carbon TC, and nitrogen TN, nutrient soil contents organic matter fractioned), physical (porosity and structural stability), and biological parameters (earthworms viability) were assessed. The results showed an increase of soil OM in the DS and DSC amended soils with the lowest rates (30 and 20 t ha⁻¹). The humic fraction was found to be the dominant form. TC and TN were improved in the DS and DSC amended soils with the highest rates: 60 (DS2) and 40 t ha⁻¹ (DSC2). Phosphorus and potassium were also increased in a dose-dependent manner. However, the soil porosity decreased in all treatments. The composted de-inking sludge was toxic for epigeic species, which could be explained by the use of litter while composting. Overall, the application of DS and DSC at low rates (30 and 20 t ha⁻¹, respectively) might be a promising alternative for improving soil quality and at the same time ensuring the proper management of these wastes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Degradation and Remediation)

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