Plant and Soil - Call for Papers: Special Issue on “Adaptation of grassland and pasture systems to global change”
Plant and Soil is seeking submissions for a Special Issue on “Adaptation of grassland and pasture systems to global change” guest edited by Shikui Dong (School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, China), Wenli Ding (School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, China), Sally Power (Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia), Haiyang Zhang (College of Life Sciences, Hebei University), Hans Lambers（School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Australia）
Submission deadline: 31 March,2026.
Papers accepted for publication in the special issue will be available online shortly after acceptance and before inclusion in the special issue. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by 2-3 independent reviewers and handled by the Guest Editors, in collaboration with the Journal’s Section Editors.
Scope
Grassland is one of the most important biomes and ecosystems in the world. Covering around 40% of the global territory and 69% of the agricultural land area, grassland serves as an important global reservoir of biological diversity, including plants, animals, and microbes. Grasslands and pastures provide numerous benefits to humanity, delivering essential ecosystem services such as food production, water supply and regulation, carbon storage and climate mitigation, pollination, and various cultural services. Despite their extraordinary importance, the sustainability of grasslands and pastures worldwide is increasingly threatened by ongoing global changes, particularly climate change. These changes are key drivers that have significantly affected the functions and processes of grassland ecosystems, leading to widespread degradation in many regions, with nearly half of the total grassland area currently degraded. The degradation of grasslands and pastures poses enormous risks to the hundreds of millions of people who rely on grasslands for food, fuel, fiber, medicinal products, and cultural values. Additionally, it may lead to severe environmental issues, including water and soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.
This critical situation challenges professionals and practitioners worldwide to consider the future sustainability of grassland ecosystems. Academia, policymakers, and practitioners should acknowledge the necessity of effective collaboration among key stakeholders globally, as well as a better understanding of the influence of different scales of biological organization. This special issue aims to gather leading experts from different disciplines to share their innovative ideas for developing integrated approaches to monitor, assess, and protect and sustainably use grassland and pasture worldwide.
Submissions are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following areas: (1) Impacts of global change on grassland ecosystem services and functions; (2) Nutrient addition and nutrition management for healthy grassland and pasture; (3) Grassland biodiversity conservation in coping with climate change; (4) Nutrient cycling and climate change in grassland and pasture; (5) Plant-soil interface and stability of grassland and pasture in response to climate change; (6) Adaptive management of grassland and pasture in the era of global change.
Important Submission Information
To submit a manuscript for this special issue, authors should follow the steps below:
- Authors submit their paper through the following website: http://www.editorialmanager.com/plso/
- In the Article Type Selection step of the online submission procedure, authors must choose “Special Issue S123 – Grasslands” from the dropdown box
- In the General Information step, authors must select the appropriate Article Category (please indicate which article category, i.e. Research Article, Review, Methods Paper or Opinion Paper).
Contact
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Guest Editors: Shikui Dong (dongshikui@bjfu.edu.cn), Wenli Ding (dingwenlii@bjfu.edu.cn), Sally Power (S.Power@uws.edu.au), Haiyang Zhang (zhanghaiyang798@gmail.com), the Editor in Chief Hans Lambers (hans.lambers@uwa.edu.au) or Managing Editor Lieve Bultynck (plso-plants@uwa.edu.au).