Soil Degradation, Soil Remediation and Sustainable Development

Dear Colleagues,

Soils serve as the basis where 98.8% of the food needed for human survival and health is grown, as well as serving a broad range of other functions, such as for ecological/environmental services. However, due to intensive agricultural and industrial activities, over 30% of the global soils have suffered from fertility degradation (e.g., erosion, salinization, desiccation, trace elements decline, etc.) and pollution (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, etc.), posing great risks to soil productivity, food security, and human health. As was pointed out, soil degradation hampers achievement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, especially zero hunger, healthy lives, and human well-being. Over the past few decades, impressive progress has been made to assess and mitigate the different types of soil degradation. However, novel, efficient, and green approaches are still very limited in their ability to remediate soil degradation and pollution for the promotion of agricultural sustainable development and improvements in human health.

This Special Issue focuses on the current state of knowledge on soil degradation and remediation, as well as the impact on sustainable development. One the one hand, it focuses on the research of soil degradation, such as erosion, desiccation, salinization, acidification, soil-borne disease, nutrient and C depletion, , etc. On the other hand, there is also a focus on the research of soil micronutrient (i.e., iron, zinc, copper, selenium, etc.) deficiency and/or soil pollutants, classified as heavy metal pollutants (i.e., arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, zinc, etc.), organic pollutants (i.e., pesticide, insecticide, PAH, etc.), and emerging pollutants (i.e., microplastics, antibiotics, human pathogens, antibiotic resistance genes, etc.).

Research papers, reviews, and case reports are welcome to be submitted to this Special Issue. Studies on novel and green approaches meant to mitigate soil degradation and remediate soil pollution for the promotion of agricultural and ecological sustainable development are strongly encouraged. Contributions can include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

1. The evolution of soil degradation and its impact on agricultural and ecological sustainable development;
2. Novel, efficient, and green approaches to control soil degradation, and their impact on agricultural and ecological sustainable development;
3. Soil productivity and crop quality responses to soil pollution and micronutrient depletion, and the potential risks to human health (i.e., malnutrition and poisoning);
4. Novel, efficient, and green approaches to mitigate the deficiency of soil micronutrients and remediate soil pollutants, and their impact on soil productivity, crop quality, and human health.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in IJERPH.

Dr. Yanlong Chen
Dr. Tongchuan Li
Dr. Jun Li
Guest Editors

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• erosion
• desiccation
• soil physical properties
• soil pollution
• micronutrients and macronutrients
• emerging contaminants
• heavy metals
• human health
• crop quality