About this Research Topic

Background

The mounting challenges to global food security--in the form of shifts in dietary patterns, soil degradation, and increasing extreme weather events--underscore the necessity of sustainable crop systems. As a response, Food-Energy-Water-Carbon-Nitrogen (FEWCN) nexus frameworks have been considered as a promising approach to analyze the complex interdependencies and enhance the sustainability of agricultural systems. However, the current nutrient cycling studies of mechanism and management practices always consider a few comprehensive synergies on agricultural, environmental, and ecological impacts. In addition, existing assessments of sustainable agricultural practices often fall short of a comprehensive and integrative examination from the perspective of a FEWCN framework. To effectively clarify the physiological ecology and evaluate the long-term implications and contributions of sustainable agricultural practices, especially for nutrient management, to the balance of various essential elements such as food, energy, water, carbon, and nitrogen, a more holistic viewpoint is required. Only by filling these research gaps can we better inform decision-making and policy development in support of sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture within the FEWCN nexus frameworks for sustainable crop production.

The goal of this Research Topic is to address the challenges of ensuring global food security by promoting sustainable crop management practices within the Food-Energy-Water-Carbon-Nitrogen (FEWCN) nexus frameworks. It aims to improve the understanding of the physiological ecology mechanism of nutrient cycling in crop systems. As well as the synergy among the comprehensive benefits, potential environmental trade-offs, and nutrients cycling of sustainable agricultural practices, including optimized nutrient management, diversified crop rotations, retention of crop residues, and incorporation of cover crops etc.

We welcome submissions of various article types, such as original research, reviews, and methods, addressing the following and other relevant subtopics, but not limited to:
1. Physiological ecology mechanism of nutrients cycling in crop systems from a whole or part of Food-Energy-Water-Carbon-Nitrogen (FEWCN) nexus perspective.
2. Reconciling mechanism of the comprehensive benefits, environmental trade-offs, and nutrient cycling dynamics of sustainable agricultural practices from a FEWCN perspective, including optimized nutrients management, diversified crop rotations, retention of crop residues, and incorporation of cover crops, etc.
3. Analysis of the effects of agricultural optimization management measures and products, food and agricultural input trade, and material flows on agricultural sustainability, with a focus on the FEWCN nexus.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Sustainable agriculture, food-energy-water-carbon-nitrogen nexus, crop systems resilience, plant science, food security

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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