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Land
Special Issues
Ecosystem Disturbances and Soil Properties
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Ecosystem Disturbances and Soil Properties

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil-Sediment-Water Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2024 | Viewed by 1255

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Víctor Fernández-García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut of Geography and Sustainability (IGD), Faculty of Geosciences and Environment (FGSE), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Interests: remote sensing; soil science; vegetation science; wildfires; grazing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Ecological disturbances, such as landscape fires, grazing, logging or deforestation, play a major role in the structure, composition, functioning and dynamics of the ecosystem. Disturbances significantly influence the soil properties crucial to global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functioning, which promote biodiversity and evolutionary adaptation. Fires, for instance, usually prevent the dominance of a few species and release the nutrients locked in vegetation, stimulating nutrient cycling and enhancing soil fertility over the short term. Grazing by herbivores also modifies soil properties directly or indirectly due to the effects of related changes in vegetation cover. The significant effects on ecosystem functioning are those related to the following domains; soil structure, which can influence water infiltration; soil nutrients, which determine soil fertility; soil carbon, as this is one of the major carbon sinks and thus a critical element in climate regulation; and soil microorganisms, microbiota and mesofauna, as these are key drivers of some of the aforementioned properties. Changing disturbance regimes due to factors such as climate change and land use alterations can profoundly affect the properties of soil. A deeper understanding of these interactions can guide sustainable land management practices and inform conservation strategies, ensuring the continued provisioning of vital ecosystem services. 

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that provide insights regarding the impact of ecological disturbances (landscape fires and grazing) on soils, including their physical, chemical and biological properties. 

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Influence of landscape fires or grazing on soil structure.
  • Influence of landscape fires or grazing on soil chemical properties.
  • Influence of landscape fires or grazing on soil chemical biological properties. 

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Víctor Fernández-García
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. Land 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

  • wildfires
  • herbivory
  • soil structure
  • soil nutrients
  • soil carbon
  • soil biota

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

17 pages, 1320 KiB  
Review
How Mediterranean Ecosystem Deals with Wildfire Impact on Soil Ecosystem Services and Functions: A Review
by Marcos Francos, Fernando Colino-Prieto and Carlos Sánchez-García
Land 2024, 13(4), 407; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/land13040407 - 22 Mar 2024
Viewed by 869
Abstract
Wildfires are a common phenomenon in Mediterranean environments. This study seeks to synthesize the main results of existing studies from the last decade on this topic and to highlight the need for managing soil impacted by wildfires in the Mediterranean environment. Researchers have [...] Read more.
Wildfires are a common phenomenon in Mediterranean environments. This study seeks to synthesize the main results of existing studies from the last decade on this topic and to highlight the need for managing soil impacted by wildfires in the Mediterranean environment. Researchers have found that the impact of fire during a forest fire on the soil, and the subsequent consequences on soil ecosystem services and functions, is great and produces negative consequences for the soil. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil have been extensively analyzed, and a very high number of studies during the last ten years have been performed on different study areas with a common component: the Mediterranean ecosystem. However, the effects of these fires on the multifunctionality of the soil itself, ecosystem services, and soil functionality, which they provide to humans, have not. It is therefore essential to know the impact of fires in a fire-prone ecosystem such as the Mediterranean one on the soil and how these services and functions are affected. In this way, the decision can be taken to carry out restoration measures, especially after very severe forest fires and if the recurrence is high. This conclusion is even more important in the context of global change in which more severe and recurrent fires are expected, and therefore actions to be considered are expected to be more necessary to avoid land degradation, as many of the studies compiled here have shown. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosystem Disturbances and Soil Properties)
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