Introduction  

     PEDOSPHERE—A peer-reviewed international journal (ISSN 1002-0160; CN 32-1315/P) was founded in 1991 and is published bimonthly in English (without Chinese edition) by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. PEDOSPHERE is sponsored jointly by the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Soil Science Society of China; in cooperation with China Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University, South China Agricultural University, and Zhejiang University. The Editor-in-Chief is Prof. Shen Ren-Fang who is Honorary President of the Soil Science Society of China, and Director of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

     PEDOSPHERE welcomes submissions from scientists around the world under a broad scope of topics relevant to timely, high quality original research findings, especially up-to-date achievements and advances in the entire field of soil science studies dealing with environmental science, ecology, agriculture, bioscience, geoscience, forestry, etc. It publishes mainly original research articles as well as some reviews, mini reviews, letters to the Editor and special issues; and its areas of particular interest include soil physics; soil chemistry; soil biology and biochemistry; soil fertility and plant nutrition; soil resources and use; soil mineralogy; soil environment and ecology; soil and water conservation; forest, range, and wetland soils; soil salinity and management; soil and plant analysis and technology; and soil gases and global change. 

      Papers submitted to the Journal PEDOSPHERE must be sent out for double-blind in-depth peer review by the Editorial Committee, which is composed of 42 foreign and 21 Chinese worldwide renowned soil scientists from 24 countries, and by its scientific review panel composed of thousands of internationally invited experts prior to acceptance for publication. 
  
      PEDOSPHERE has been abstracted/indexed in most of the internationally important relevant databases and abstracts, such as Current Contents, Science Citation Index Expanded, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts, SCOPUS, VINITI Abstracts Journal (РЖ), Japan Information Center of Science & Technology (CBST), Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, ScienceDirect, Elsevier BIOBASE, GEOBASE, ASCI, Ecological Abstracts, Pollution Abstracts, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Mgmt, Environment Encyclopedia and Directory, Soils and Fertilizers, Water Resources Abstracts, Irrigation and Drainage Abstracts, AGRICOLA, AGRIS, AGRINDEX, GeoRef, Bibliography and Index of Geology, Geographical Abstracts, Geological Abstracts, Geomechanics Abstracts, Grasslands and Forage Abstracts, Current Advances in Plant Sciences, Agroforestry Abstracts, Field Crop Abstracts, Forestry Abstracts, Horticultural Abstracts, International Development Abstracts, Maize Abstracts, Nematological Abstracts, Plant Growth Regulator Abstracts, Rice Abstracts, Wheat, Barley and Triticale Abstracts, Chinese Science Abstracts, CSCD, CSTPCD, CJCR, CNKI, and CAJCED.

     To date the published papers in PEDOSPHERE submitted by authors from over 30 countries outside China, such as USA, UK, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, Poland, India, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, Greece, Syria and Bangladesh, have accounted for more than 30% of the total. Additionally, over 90% of the published articles in the journal belong to research projects supported by various international and national scientific foundations.

     PEDOSPHERE’s audience: Scientific and technical researchers and workers as well as university and college teachers and students related to soil science, environmental science, ecology, bioscience, geoscience, agriculture, forestry, etc.

     All manuscripts should be submitted electronically via PEDOSPHERE Online Editorial System (POES)---The web-based online manuscript submission, tracking, peer-review, and editorial management system of PEDOSPHERE---which can be accessed at http://pedosphere.issas.ac.cn.

     For subscription outside China: Elsevier is responsible for overseas subscription of the journal. Please subscribe to the journal via www.sciencedirect.com or contact the Elsevier Customer Service Department at the Regional Sales Office nearest you, as listed in the inside cover of the journal.

     For domestic subscription in China: Please subscribe to the journal in local post offices throughout China (domestic postal distribution code: 2-576).

Editorial Committee & Editorial Office of PEDOSPHERE
Address: No.298 Chuangyou Road, Jiangning District, Nanjing 211135, P. R. China
Tel.: +86-25-8688 1235; Fax: +86-25-8688 1256
E-mail: pedosphere@issas.ac.cn, rmdu@issas.ac.cn
           fxmeng@issas.ac.cn, cfdeng@issas.ac.cn, yyang@issas.ac.cn
URL: http://pedosphere.issas.ac.cn; http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pedosphere