Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition - Special Issue: Exploring the fate of organic phosphorus in soil and aquatic ecosystems in relation to global societal and environmental challenges

Submission deadline: 30 June 2024

The Organic Phosphorus Workshop (this opens in a new tab) was held in Pucón, Chile, from 27 November to 1 December 2023. This Special Issue will publish research and review articles originated from work presented at the workshop as oral and poster presentations as well as plenary sessions.

We also invite non-attendees to submit their work to the Special Issue. Please make sure your submission is in scope.

Guest Editors Team

Leo Condron
Lincoln University, New Zealand


Luisella Celi
Università Di Torino, Italy


Tandra Fraser
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada


Tim George
James Hutton Institute, UK

Aims and Scope

Humanity faces many urgent challenges, including food security, environmental degradation, and climate change. The maintenance of current global food production, as well as future increases driven by projected population growth, are strongly dependent on continued inputs of phosphorus, mainly in the form of mineral fertilizers derived from phosphate rock.

Global phosphate rock resources are finite, and there is an acknowledged urgent need to improve phosphorus use and efficiency in agroecosystems to meet increasing demand. Organic forms of phosphorus account for up to half of the total phosphorus present in many agricultural soils.

The nature and dynamics of organic phosphorus in soil play a major role in determining phosphorus bioavailability and plant productivity, and optimization of biological phosphorus cycling has the potential to contribute significantly to improving phosphorus use efficiency.

Long-term inputs of phosphorus have resulted in the accumulation of significant quantities of legacy phosphorus in agricultural soils which in turn has contributed to increased diffuse phosphorus transfer and accelerated eutrophication of many water bodies. Biological processes play a vital role in determining the mobility and bioavailability of phosphorus in soils and sediments.

We welcome  submissions covering (but not restricted to) the following topical areas:

- role and function of soil organic phosphorus in sustainable land management;

- nature and biogeochemistry of organic phosphorus in water and sediments;

- interactions between the biogeochemistry of organic phosphorus and other elements in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems;

- advances in methodology to investigate and quantify organic phosphorus dynamics;

- interactions between biotic and abiotic phosphorus dynamics in soils and sediments.

How to Submit

For pre-submission enquiries please contact the journal (this opens in a new tab).

Manuscripts should be formatted according to the journal’s submission guidelines (this opens in a new tab) and submitted via the online submission system (this opens in a new tab).

IMPORTANT: You will be asked, during the submission process, if your manuscript is part of a collection. Please respond “yes” and select the option “OPWINCHILE2023”.