*CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable production intensification*

Dear Subscribers,


Please see herebelow an invitation to contribute to the special issue of
AIMS Agriculture and Food journal's special issue on "Land Management
Practices for Soil Conservation in Climate Change Scenarios".


Apologies for cross-postings.


*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca



*From:* AIMS Agriculture and Food [mailto:[log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>]
*Sent:* Mittwoch, 28. Oktober 2015 05:18
*Subject:* Re-sending Paper Invitation for the Special Issue: Land
Management Practices for Soil Conservation in Climate Change Scenarios



As we suspect the topic area would be of interest to you and to recognize
your achievement in the field, we are pleased to invite you to contribute a
paper to this special issue "Land Management Practices for Soil
Conservation in Climate Change Scenarios" of AIMS Agriculture and Food
journal.

AIMS Agriculture and Food is a brand new international Open Access journal
devoted to publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed original papers
representing complete studies in the multidisciplinary field of Agriculture
and Food. We wish to provide a new platform for researchers to communicate
their scientific ideas in the field. All the article processing charges for
authors are waived. Please see the introduction to the topic:
------------------------------

In past centuries, man has been the biggest predator of soil. In the next
decades, faced with the threat of climate change, man has to be the great
friend of the conservation of the soil, if we want to maintain the survival
of the planet and achieve the food security for a growing population.

Globally, the biggest environmental challenges for a sustainable
development in this century are: i) to ensure food security fora growing
population, ii) biodiversity conservation, and iii) climate change
mitigation and adaptation. Conservation and improvement of soil quality are
crucial to meet these challenges.

There is a large number of scientific publications that report on the
effects of climate change on soil properties. Many studies predict negative
effects of climate change on soil quality and performance of soil
functions. Most predictions and empirical data point to a decrease in soil
organic matter, caused by an increase in the mineralization rate with
global warming. Likewise, the increase of temperature leads to higher
evapotranspiration and a reduction of available soil water for plants. All
this, in addition to the reduction in soil productivity, leads to a further
increase of CO2 emissions from the soil, and less uptake of atmospheric CO2
through photosynthesis, causing the acceleration of climate change in a
negative feedback loop. This impact will be specially serious in arid and
semiarid areas, and when global warming is accompanied by a decrease in
precipitation. On the other hand, the change in precipitation regimes,
towards an increase in the frequency of extreme events leads to an increase
in soil erosion and longer more extreme droughts. Therefore, it is assumed
that the impact of climate change on soil will affect to food security,
water supply, biogeochemical cycles, environmental soil functions and
climate change acceleration.

In consequence, a new approach of soil management and conservation
practices is required that accounts for soil-climate interactions. Although
more research is needed, we assume that the present scientific knowledge
could be sufficient to address the adaptation of land use and management to
the changing climate scenarios, slowing down the current dynamic of soil
degradation in agricultural and natural ecosystems. The present state of
knowledge suggests that without the application of the best soil
conservation practices, it will not be possible to maintain the
productivity levels that are needed to feed the world population in the
next decades. Faced with the need to increase soil productivity over the
next years to feed the growing human population, it is essential to act
immediately, through the implementation of soil conservation practices able
to maintain sustainable and productive agricultural and forest systems for
stable food security and to ensure environmental soil functions and crucial
ecosystems services.

In this special edition of AIMS Agriculture and Food, we invite you to
present the latest achievements in research, management approaches and
developing systems focused on conservation, restoration and improvement of
soil quality, in agricultural and forest ecosystems, under the different
scenarios of climate change. Some suggested topics are: effects of climate
change on soil quality and health (processes and mechanism); developing and
testing of integrated interdisciplinary scientific approaches and concepts
combining insights in agronomy, soil science and carbon sequestration;
economic evaluation of soil conservation cost and benefits; new pathways of
knowledge transfer; study cases of successful implementation of
conservation approaches.
------------------------------

Submission due date: February 28, 2016
Visit our website for more information at:
http://www.aimspress.com/newsinfo/493.html.

Please feel free to distribute this letter within your organization and
professional network to colleagues who might be interested for this
publishing opportunity, if you do not have a paper to contribute or kindly
would like to do so. In case of any questions you have, please contact us.

Thank you so much for your kind consideration.
Looking forward to your feedback.


Kind regards,

Xiaowei Tang, Managing Editor
AIMS Agriculture and Food
Website: http://www.aimspress.com/journal/agriculture
Email: [log in to unmask]

On behalf of

Juan Albaladejo, Dr. Prof.
Centro de Edafologia y Biologia Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS), Department of
Soil and Water Conservation, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Murcia,
30100, PO Box 164, Spain
Email: [log in to unmask]


*We will not send this invitation again. To avoid future invitations from
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