Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems - Call for Papers: Special Issue on "Nutrient Cycling and Management with Cover Crops"

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems is seeking submissions for a Special Issue on "Nutrient Cycling and Management with Cover Crops”, edited by Drs. Gabriel Maltais-Landry (University of Florida, United States) and Chiara De Notaris (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Italy). All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by 2-3 independent reviewers and handled by the Guest Editors, in collaboration with the Journal’s Editors-in-Chief. Papers accepted for publication in the Special Issue will be available online soon after acceptance, and before inclusion in the Special Issue.

Nutrient cycling and management are key aspects of agroecosystems that are affected by cover crops due to their capacity to provide nutrients (e.g., via biological N fixation), retain excess nutrients before they are lost (e.g., residual soil N), and recycle nutrients within a given system (e.g., by increasing soil P availability). Cover crops also affect nutrient cycling through changes in soil C cycling, microbial communities, soil physical properties, etc. However, many uncertainties remain about the presence and/or magnitude of benefits cover crops provide, including potential trade-offs among potential benefits (e.g., increasing N availability while storing soil C). Furthermore, innovative approaches (e.g., the use of tracers or remote sensing) are increasingly used in cover crop research, allowing for more robust estimates of their impact on nutrient cycling and management. This special issue will combine papers presenting:

● Measurements of N cycling using innovative approaches (e.g., ¹⁵N, remote sensing)
● Effects of cover crops on N cycling, with focus on less studied non-leguminous species
● Effects of cover crops on multiple nutrients, especially nutrients other than N
● Effects of cover crops on soil C, including feedback to nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., N₂O) and soil C storage/sequestration
● Comparisons of cover crops with different levels of species and/or functional diversity
● Effects of cover crops in less common agroecosystems (e.g., specialty crops, tree crops)
● Modeling studies focusing on the effects of cover crops on nutrient cycling and management

The submission deadline for this special issue is December 1, 2024. To submit a manuscript for this special issue, authors should follow the steps below:

Authors submit their papers through this website.

During the submission process under "Additional Information," “Collections” authors must select that the article is part of a Special Issue and select Special Issue title "Nutrient Cycling and Management with Cover Crops”.

Any inquiries about the suitability of articles, please contact the Guest Editors:
Gabriel Maltais-Landry: maltaislandryg@ufl.edu
Chiara De Notaris: chiara.denotaris@cmcc.it