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Sustainability
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Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators
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Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil Conservation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2023) | Viewed by 6733

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ieva Mockeviciene

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Institute of Agriculture, Vezaiciai Branch, Vezaiciai, Klaipeda District, Lithuania
Interests: studies of soil organic matter transformation; analytical and bioanalytical chemistry; sustainable management and quality of acids soils; application of soil liming and fertilization systems; soil ecological services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Monika Vilkienė

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Institute of Agriculture, Vezaiciai Branch, Vezaiciai, Klaipeda District, Lithuania
Interests: soil microbiology; sustainable management of soil; soil ecology; studies of bacterial communities; soil biodiversity; bio-indices
Dr. Danutė Karčauskienė

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Institute of Agriculture, Vezaiciai Branch, Vezaiciai, Klaipeda District, Lithuania
Interests: soil chemical and physical degradation; soil acidity management; optimization of the physical environment of soil; improvement of soil structure; soil ecology; sustainable management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soils provide a broad set of vital ecosystem services, but despite this important role it is under threat all over the world. Soils are dynamic systems that generate multiple functions. These soil functions support the delivery of key ecosystem services, such as climate and water regulation, carbon sequestration, or nutrient cycling, all of which can be seriously affected in degraded ecosystems. Ecosystem restoration should aim to recover the soil’s capacity to support vegetation establishment and not only recover the soil’s capacity to support vegetation establishment, but also to re-establish ecosystem functions and services. To avoid further degradation of soils and, in consequence, provision of soil-based ecosystem services, soil science has been calling for a comprehensive consideration of soil quality in decision-making, as soils are marginalized as a mere surface. On a global scale, due to the importance of environmental change, soil-quality evaluation is essential for the development of sustainable agriculture, the sustainability of soil management, and land use systems. Most soil ecosystem functions are difficult to assess directly and are, therefore, frequently inferred from measurable soil properties, such as soil quality indicators, which can cover a broad range of soil physical, chemical, and biological characteristics

For this Special Issue, authors are invited to publish articles from the field of agriculture, highlighting the prospects and changes related to the soil quality indicators and their impact on ecosystem services due to the applied various land use techniques. Articles discussing and providing an overview of the current knowledge of soil quality indicators in the context of ecosystem restoration; presenting examples of soil physicochemical and microbiological indicators, and current and novel methodologies for their assessment; and discussing the benefits and challenges of integrating these indicators in global soil and ecosystem restoration strategy are welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Ieva Mockeviciene
Dr. Monika Vilkienė
Dr. Danutė Karčauskienė
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • sustainable development of agronomy
  • soil health
  • soil ecosystem functions
  • soil physicochemical and microbiological indicators
  • ecosystem restoration
  • soil environmental status
  • climate change

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 8373 KiB  
Article
Bacterial Communities: Interaction to Abiotic Conditions under Effect of Anthropogenic Pressure
by Monika Vilkiene, Ieva Mockeviciene, Grazina Kadziene, Danute Karcauskiene, Regina Repsiene and Ona Auskalniene
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11366; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151411366 - 21 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 831
Abstract
Relationships between different microorganisms’ groups and the soil environment are reversible, and the state of the soil and its provided services can also change the structure and abundance of microorganisms as well as that microorganisms can affect soil conditions. The aim of our [...] Read more.
Relationships between different microorganisms’ groups and the soil environment are reversible, and the state of the soil and its provided services can also change the structure and abundance of microorganisms as well as that microorganisms can affect soil conditions. The aim of our research was to analyze the physical and chemical properties of differently formed agroecosystems, which are affected by different anthropogenic pressures and to compare how bacterial composition differ in totally different environments. It was established that different soil microorganisms’ physiological groups significantly correlated with chemical and physical soil properties: atmospheric nitrogen-fixing bacteria showed a positive correlation with soil pHKCl, Nsum, P2O5, and soil bulk density; meanwhile, soil porosity, and the K2O amount in the soil negatively affected the population of atmospheric nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The same tendencies were inherent to actinomycetes and ammonifying bacteria. Micromycetes showed a negative trend with soil pHKCl, showing that soils with lower pHKCl are characterized by a higher abundance of micromycetes. Analysis of the taxonomic diversity of soil microbes reveals that the bacterial communities were dominated by two main species of bacteria: Betaproteobacterium and Candidatus Saccharibacteria. Bacterial identification shows that the main bacterial species were the same in all analyzed sampling places despite the different anthropogenic activities, parent material, and other abiotic conditions. Only a few species were identified in different soil groups, and it may be assumed that those groups could be potential bioindicators for specific soil types, but more in depth research is needed to confirm this hypothesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators)
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18 pages, 4502 KiB  
Article
Diversity of Agro-Biological Traits and Development of Diseases in Alfalfa Cultivars during the Contrasting Vegetation Seasons
by Aurelija Liatukienė, Eglė Norkevičienė, Vida Danytė and Žilvinas Liatukas
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1445; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15021445 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1179
Abstract
Alfalfa exhibits high adaptability to a range of environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agro-biological traits of alfalfa and select its most promising cultivars under different contrasting vegetation seasons. The field experiment was carried out at the Institute [...] Read more.
Alfalfa exhibits high adaptability to a range of environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agro-biological traits of alfalfa and select its most promising cultivars under different contrasting vegetation seasons. The field experiment was carried out at the Institute of Agriculture of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. In 2016 and 2018, eleven alfalfa cultivars of different origin were established in the Endocalcari Epigleyic Cambisol. In the seasons of 2017–2018 and 2019–2020, the agro-biological traits of alfalfa cultivars were evaluated during winter; at the height of spring regrowth; before flowering at the three cuts; and during the fresh and dry matter yields; we also examined the development of diseases at the three cuts. The cultivar Birutė from Lithuania was distinguished by its wintering, its plant height at spring regrowth, its height before flowering, and its fresh and dry matter yields. The cultivar Timbale from France was distinguished by its wintering, spring regrowth, and its height before flowering. The cultivar Magnat from Romania was distinguished by its height before flowering and the fact that it was less damaged by downy mildew. The cultivars Jõgeva 118, Juurlu, and Karlu from Estonia were distinguished by their wintering and the fact that they were less damaged by diseases. The cultivar Eugenia from Italy was distinguished by the fresh and dry matter yields and the height before flowering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators)
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19 pages, 2935 KiB  
Article
Solid and Liquid Phases of Anaerobic Digestate for Sustainable Use of Agricultural Soil
by Alvyra Slepetiene, Jurgita Ceseviciene, Kristina Amaleviciute-Volunge, Audrone Mankeviciene, Irmantas Parasotas, Aida Skersiene, Linas Jurgutis, Jonas Volungevicius, Darijus Veteikis and Ieva Mockeviciene
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1345; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15021345 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2471
Abstract
Given the growth in the number of biogas power plants and the increase in the generation of waste from energy production, it is relevant to study the sustainable nature of this waste. Digestate is a product of the anaerobic digestion process, and is [...] Read more.
Given the growth in the number of biogas power plants and the increase in the generation of waste from energy production, it is relevant to study the sustainable nature of this waste. Digestate is a product of the anaerobic digestion process, and is a valuable bio-fertilizer containing organic matter and nutrients necessary for agricultural plants’ growth. The study showed that different rates of liquid and solid phases of anaerobic digestate influenced the contents of carbon and nitrogen in genetically young soil in alluvial deposits—Fluvisol. The application of solid digestate (SD) considerably increased soil organic carbon content (SOC) in the 0–10 cm soil layer; however, SOC did not reach the 20–30 cm layer. Liquid digestate (LD) significantly increased SOC in the deeper layers. The levels of mineral nitrogen (Nmin) and water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) increased in the 0–10 cm soil layer soon after fertilization with LD and SD. The mobile components of the soil (Nmin and WEOC) were characterized by high variability during the growing season. Within the 2-month period, their concentrations decreased drastically and were close to those of unfertilized soil. The research indicates that anaerobic digestate had a greater effect on mobile forms of carbon and nitrogen in the soil than on their total amounts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators)
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18 pages, 3006 KiB  
Article
Influence of Modified Urea Compounds to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency under Corn Growth System
by Samar Swify, Dovile Avizienyte, Romas Mazeika and Zita Braziene
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14166; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142114166 - 30 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1784
Abstract
Adopting new practices is an imperative need to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use (NUE), especially in selecting appropriate N-fertilizer sources and application doses. Regretfully, conventional urea’s ability to supply nitrogen to soils is quickly lost as a result of volatilization, leaching, and [...] Read more.
Adopting new practices is an imperative need to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use (NUE), especially in selecting appropriate N-fertilizer sources and application doses. Regretfully, conventional urea’s ability to supply nitrogen to soils is quickly lost as a result of volatilization, leaching, and denitrification. Thus, this study’s main aim was to use various modified urea compounds with different doses and investigate their effect on mineral nitrogen release in the soil to improve nitrogen uptake and its use efficiency under the corn growth system. The field trial was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) by 28 experimental plots. Seven treatments including a control (C), urea (U100 and U200), urea + potassium humate (UPH100 and UPH200), and urea cocrystal (UC100 and UC200) with four replicates were used. The results reported that the treatments significantly (p < 0.05) affected grain yields. The urea treatments (U100 = 100 kg N ha−1, U200 = 200 kg N ha−1) increased the grain yields by 7.16% and 30.53%, respectively, compared to the control (C), while the urea + potassium humate treatments (UPH100 = 100 kg N ha−1, UPH200 = 200 kg N ha−1) and urea cocrystal treatments (UC100 = 100 kg N ha−1, UC200 = 200 kg N ha−1) provided a 30.51, 50.47, 39.23, and 56.63% increase in grain yields, respectively, compared to the control. The treatments had significant (p ≤ 0.05) effects on the fresh leaves and stems yield and the dry matter, fresh cob, and dry cob yields. Moreover, the use of modified urea as urea + potassium humate and urea cocrystal at high rates of 200 kg N ha−1 showed highly significant (p < 001) effects on the uptake in grain, stems, and total nitrogen uptake by corn compared to the control and urea alone. This study highlighted that modified urea fertilizers such as urea + potassium humate and urea cocrystal were better than conventional urea to improve corn yield productivity and N use efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges for Agricultural Sustainability: Soil Ecosystem Services and Quality Indicators)
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