Soil and Water

Water stored in soils, also known as green water, is the first resource for biomass production, therefore it could be considered as the most important input, as constituent of the biomass and as the necessary resource for all the functions of the living organisms. Green water availability depends mainly on the amount and distribution of rain -and irrigation- along the year, on the ability of soils to store water during the dry seasons, as well as on the capacity of soils to store and deliver water to the plants and soil biota. Six of the ten soil threats: erosion, loss of SOC, salinisation and sodification, sealing, compaction and waterlogging directly affect soil available water capacity (AWC), water supply and water quality. The rest of the threats, as contamination, loss of biodiversity, nutrient imbalance and acidification also affect the capacity of plants to use soil water. In the frame of climate change, higher temperatures and higher water needs will oblige to improve water use efficiency by plants, therefore the implementation of sustainable soil management practices aiming at increasing soil water storage capacity and valuing soils as aquifer recharge will be essential.

This Special Issue welcomes manuscripts dealing with soil-water relationships and with those soil ecosystem services related to water use and water cycle, as the soil-plant-water-atmosphere continuum, role of soils in watershed hydrology and aquifer recharge, salt-affected soils, waterlogging, peatland and wetland management, irrigation and water use efficiency, management of soil water repellency, and use and disposal of wastewater.

Any questions? Please email the Editorial Office.

Fee Support
As a Gold open-access journal, all submissions are subject to publishing fees. Authors can benefit from financial support from their institution through Frontiers' Institutional Agreements. For full details please see the journals Publishing Fees page. Members of the SECS are also entitled to a 30% discount off their publishing fees. Please contact the Editorial Office if you have any questions.

Keywords: green water, climate change, irrigation, wastewater, peatland, wetland, nutrients use efficiency, soil quality