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Agriculture
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Plant–Soil Interactions and Agroecosystem Functioning
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Plant–Soil Interactions and Agroecosystem Functioning

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2021) | Viewed by 7912

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Cameron Wagg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fredericton Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Interests: agroecology; plant–soil ecology; biodiversity; crop diversification; mycorrhiza

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intensifying agricultural practices can have unintended and undesirable effects on the ability to sustain healthy and productive soils. Soil health is a multifaceted concept encompassing the ability of the soil to maintain key ecosystem services that include carbon and nutrient cycling and the maintenance of soil structure that underpin agricultural productivity. Virtually all of these agroecosystem services hinge upon of a vast diversity of soil organisms. Crops and their management play an intimate role in shaping soil biological communities and the functioning of soil communities. A deeper understanding of plant–soil interactions in agroecosystems, and in particular how various crops and their management influence soil communities, is needed to design novel cropping systems that will ensure productive agricultural lands into the future.

This Special Issue is aimed at plant and soil ecology in agroecosystems with the goal of providing novel insights into the effects of crops on soil communities and their functions. Unravelling the relationships between various crops and the functioning of their soil communities is a multidisciplinary topic covering aspects of soil biodiversity, community and population ecology, soil science, and microbial ecology, among others. All types of articles are welcome, from original research to reviews and opinion pieces. 

Dr. Cameron Wagg
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 fauna
  • Carbon cycling
  • Nutrient cycling
  • Soil biodiversity
  • Crop diversification
  • Crop rotations
  • Soil carbon
  • Rhizosphere ecology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 6216 KiB  
Article
Full-Season Cover Crops and Their Traits That Promote Agroecosystem Services
by Cameron Wagg, Aafke van Erk, Erica Fava, Louis-Pierre Comeau, T. Fatima Mitterboeck, Claudia Goyer, Sheng Li, Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill and Aaron Mills
Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090830 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3915
Abstract
Non-marketable crops are increasingly being used as a tool to promote agroecosystem services and sustainable agriculture. Nevertheless, crops vary greatly in the traits by which they capture resources and influence the local ecosystem. Here we report on the traits and associated soil microbial [...] Read more.
Non-marketable crops are increasingly being used as a tool to promote agroecosystem services and sustainable agriculture. Nevertheless, crops vary greatly in the traits by which they capture resources and influence the local ecosystem. Here we report on the traits and associated soil microbial communities that relate to aboveground biomass production, nutrient capture, weed suppression, erosion control and building particulate organic matter of 22 different full-season cover crops. All agroecosystem services were positively correlated with maximum canopy height and leaf area. Rooting density was positively associated with indices of bacterial diversity. While some legumes produced the greatest standing N and P in aboveground biomass, they were also poor at capturing soil nitrate and promoted high levels of potential plant fungal pathogens. Conversely, Brassicaceae crops had the lowest levels of potential plant fungal pathogens, but also suppressed saprophytic fungi and rhizobia. Thus, not all crops are equal in their ability to promote all agroecosystem services, and while some crops may be ideal for promoting a specific agroecosystem service, this could result in a trade-off with another. Nonetheless, our study demonstrates that plant functional traits are informative for the selection of crops for promoting agroecosystem services. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Soil Interactions and Agroecosystem Functioning)
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21 pages, 2151 KiB  
Article
Impacts of the Winter Pea Crop (Instead of Rapeseed) on Soil Microbial Communities, Nitrogen Balance and Wheat Yield
by Cyrine Rezgui, Wassila Riah-Anglet, Marie Benoit, Pierre Yves Bernard, Karine Laval and Isabelle Trinsoutrot-Gattin
Agriculture 2020, 10(11), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10110548 - 14 Nov 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3364
Abstract
Due to legume-based systems improving several aspects of soil fertility, the diversification of agrosystems using legumes in crop succession is gaining increasing interest. The benefits of legumes aroused the interest of farmers in the association of the Economic and Environmental Interest Group (EEIG), [...] Read more.
Due to legume-based systems improving several aspects of soil fertility, the diversification of agrosystems using legumes in crop succession is gaining increasing interest. The benefits of legumes aroused the interest of farmers in the association of the Economic and Environmental Interest Group (EEIG), who introduced the idea of using the winter pea instead of rapeseed in their crop succession. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the winter pea compared to those of rapeseed, as a head crop of the rotation, on soil microbial communities, enzyme activities, nitrogen (N) balance and yields. The field experiment involved two farmer plots that were selected within the EEIG. In each plot, two crop successions, including winter pea–wheat and rapeseed–wheat with fertilized and unfertilized strips, were examined for two years. Three times a year, under the wheat crop, composite soil samples were collected at depths of 0–20 cm, for microbial abundance and enzyme activity analyses, and twice a year at a depth of 0–60 cm, for the measuring of the mineral N. The results showed that the rapeseed–wheat succession maintained or enhanced soil bacterial and fungal biomasses and their enzyme activities. The winter pea–wheat succession enriched the soil’s mineral N content more consistently than the rapeseed–wheat succession. The mineral N enhancement’s effect was maintained under the wheat crop. Overall, the impact of the winter pea was positive on the soil’s N dynamics, but wheat yields were equivalent regardless of the previous crop (winter pea or rapeseed with and without fertilization). In the Normandy region, as rapeseed requires a large amount of N fertilizer and pesticide to maintain the yield and quality of crop products, it is suitable to favor the introduction of the winter pea as the head crop of the rotation, which indirectly allows for a reduction in the costs of input production and use, the working time of farmers and environmental pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Soil Interactions and Agroecosystem Functioning)
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