Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment)
Journal positioning
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (AGEE), published by Elsevier, sits at the interface
of agriculture and the environment at field-to-landscape scale: how agricultural systems
affect — and are affected by — nutrient and greenhouse-gas fluxes, biodiversity, soil and
water quality, and ecosystem services. Its defining expectation is a study whose central
contribution is an environmental outcome of agroecosystem management, quantified with
sound design and generalizable beyond one plot. A pure crop-yield/agronomy study with no
environmental outcome, or a soil-process mechanism study with no agroecosystem/management
framing, fits a sibling journal better. This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing
tool. It does not replace the journal's current author guidelines. Before submitting, re-check
the live AGEE author guidance.
When to trigger
- The author names AGEE and wants a fit/framing check for an agriculture–environment paper.
- A management or land-use study must be framed around its environmental outcome (fluxes,
biodiversity, water/soil quality) rather than around yield alone.
- The author is choosing between AGEE,
field-crops-research (crop/yield focus), and
soil-biology-and-biochemistry (soil-process mechanism).
- The author needs AGEE's desk-reject heuristics and a credible alternative route.
Scope & topic fit
- Greenhouse-gas and nutrient fluxes from agroecosystems (N2O, CH4, CO2; N and P losses) and
their management drivers.
- Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: pollinators, natural enemies,
soil biota, and habitat effects.
- Soil and water quality outcomes of agricultural management at field-to-catchment scale.
- Land-use and management effects on agroecosystem function, including conservation
agriculture, agroforestry, and grazing systems.
- Trade-offs and synergies between production and environmental outcomes across landscapes.
- Modeling and upscaling of agroecosystem environmental outcomes when validated against
measurements.
Method & evidence bar
- The central claim must be an environmental outcome at field-to-landscape scale,
quantified with defensible design and adequate replication across space and/or time.
- Flux measurements need appropriate sampling frequency, chamber/eddy methodology, and error
characterization; cumulative-flux estimates must state their uncertainty.
- Biodiversity and ecosystem-service studies need sound sampling design, taxonomic/functional
rigor, and statistics that handle landscape structure and pseudoreplication.
- Management comparisons need realistic controls and full agronomic/environmental context so
outcomes are attributable and transferable.
- Models and upscaling must be validated against measured fluxes/outcomes with reported skill;
data and code should be available per Elsevier policy.
Structure & house style
- Standard IMRaD; the introduction must frame the agriculture–environment problem and the
outcome of interest, not just a production question.
- Methods must document the agroecosystem (soil, climate, management) and the environmental
measurement protocol in reproducible detail.
- Figures/tables should make the environmental outcome and its management drivers visible
(flux time series, landscape comparisons, trade-off plots) with variability shown.
- A data-availability statement and complete site/management metadata are expected;
supplementary material carries measurement detail.
Official-submission checklist
- Before giving submission-ready advice, read
../../resources/source-basis.md and
../../resources/official-source-map.md; start from the official source anchors, then
cite the current Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment page you checked.
- Search the live site for "Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment guide for authors" and
follow the current Elsevier version.
- Re-check article types, structure, word/figure expectations, and abstract format.
- Confirm the data-availability/repository policy and reporting of environmental measurement
and management metadata.
- Re-check competing-interests, funding, author-contribution, and AI-use disclosure, and
open-access terms.
- If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions
win.
Pre-submission self-check
Common desk-reject triggers
- A pure crop-yield/agronomy study with no quantified environmental outcome.
- A soil-process mechanism study with no agroecosystem or management framing.
- Flux estimates without uncertainty, or sampling too sparse to support cumulative claims.
- Biodiversity/ecosystem-service claims with weak sampling design or pseudoreplication.
- A single-plot result generalized to landscape scale without justification.
Re-routing decision
- Crop yield/agronomy and resource-use efficiency is the core →
field-crops-research.
- Soil-process mechanism (SOM, microbial function, nutrient cycling) is the core →
soil-biology-and-biochemistry.
- Explicit sustainability framing, review, or meta-analysis →
agronomy-for-sustainable-development.
- Large-scale climate/global-change ecosystem process dominant →
global-change-biology.
- Broad food-systems significance →
nature-food.
Output format
[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason)
[Target] Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
[Topic tags] <2–3 closest agriculture–environment topics>
[Environmental outcome] <the field-to-landscape outcome and its management driver>
[Method/evidence] <does design + measurement rigor + replication clear AGEE's bar?>
[Top risk] <the single most likely reason for rejection>
[Official items to re-check] <article type / data policy / measurement + metadata reporting / disclosures>
[Re-route suggestion] <if not a fit, a better-matched venue>
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Agriculture-Environment-Journal-Skills/skills/agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment/SKILL.md
1---2name: agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment3description: Use when targeting Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment or deciding whether an agroecosystem-environment manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the field-to-landscape environmental-outcome bar, data-reporting expectations, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics.4---5
6
7# Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment)
8
9## Journal positioning
10
11Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (AGEE), published by Elsevier, sits at the **interface
12of agriculture and the environment at field-to-landscape scale**: how agricultural systems
13affect — and are affected by — nutrient and greenhouse-gas fluxes, biodiversity, soil and
14water quality, and ecosystem services. Its defining expectation is a study whose central
15contribution is an **environmental outcome of agroecosystem management**, quantified with
16sound design and generalizable beyond one plot. A pure crop-yield/agronomy study with no
17environmental outcome, or a soil-process mechanism study with no agroecosystem/management
18framing, fits a sibling journal better. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing**
19tool. It does not replace the journal's current author guidelines. Before submitting, re-check
20the live AGEE author guidance.
21
22## When to trigger
23
24- The author names AGEE and wants a fit/framing check for an agriculture–environment paper.
25- A management or land-use study must be framed around its environmental outcome (fluxes,
26 biodiversity, water/soil quality) rather than around yield alone.
27- The author is choosing between AGEE, `field-crops-research` (crop/yield focus), and
28 `soil-biology-and-biochemistry` (soil-process mechanism).
29- The author needs AGEE's desk-reject heuristics and a credible alternative route.
30
31## Scope & topic fit
32
33- Greenhouse-gas and nutrient fluxes from agroecosystems (N2O, CH4, CO2; N and P losses) and
34 their management drivers.
35- Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: pollinators, natural enemies,
36 soil biota, and habitat effects.
37- Soil and water quality outcomes of agricultural management at field-to-catchment scale.
38- Land-use and management effects on agroecosystem function, including conservation
39 agriculture, agroforestry, and grazing systems.
40- Trade-offs and synergies between production and environmental outcomes across landscapes.
41- Modeling and upscaling of agroecosystem environmental outcomes when validated against
42 measurements.
43
44## Method & evidence bar
45
46- The central claim must be an **environmental outcome at field-to-landscape scale**,
47 quantified with defensible design and adequate replication across space and/or time.
48- Flux measurements need appropriate sampling frequency, chamber/eddy methodology, and error
49 characterization; cumulative-flux estimates must state their uncertainty.
50- Biodiversity and ecosystem-service studies need sound sampling design, taxonomic/functional
51 rigor, and statistics that handle landscape structure and pseudoreplication.
52- Management comparisons need realistic controls and full agronomic/environmental context so
53 outcomes are attributable and transferable.
54- Models and upscaling must be validated against measured fluxes/outcomes with reported skill;
55 data and code should be available per Elsevier policy.
56
57## Structure & house style
58
59- Standard IMRaD; the introduction must frame the agriculture–environment problem and the
60 outcome of interest, not just a production question.
61- Methods must document the agroecosystem (soil, climate, management) and the environmental
62 measurement protocol in reproducible detail.
63- Figures/tables should make the environmental outcome and its management drivers visible
64 (flux time series, landscape comparisons, trade-off plots) with variability shown.
65- A data-availability statement and complete site/management metadata are expected;
66 supplementary material carries measurement detail.
67
68## Official-submission checklist
69
70- Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and
71 `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the official source anchors, then
72 cite the current Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment page you checked.
73- Search the live site for "Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment guide for authors" and
74 follow the current Elsevier version.
75- Re-check article types, structure, word/figure expectations, and abstract format.
76- Confirm the data-availability/repository policy and reporting of environmental measurement
77 and management metadata.
78- Re-check competing-interests, funding, author-contribution, and AI-use disclosure, and
79 open-access terms.
80- If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions
81 win.
82
83## Pre-submission self-check
84
85- [ ] The central contribution is an environmental outcome of agroecosystem management, not yield alone.
86- [ ] Design has adequate spatial/temporal replication and handles landscape structure.
87- [ ] Flux/biodiversity measurements have appropriate methods and reported uncertainty.
88- [ ] Management comparisons have realistic controls and full environmental/agronomic context.
89- [ ] Models/upscaling are validated against measured outcomes with reported skill.
90- [ ] Data-availability statement and site/management metadata are prepared.
91
92## Common desk-reject triggers
93
94- A pure crop-yield/agronomy study with no quantified environmental outcome.
95- A soil-process mechanism study with no agroecosystem or management framing.
96- Flux estimates without uncertainty, or sampling too sparse to support cumulative claims.
97- Biodiversity/ecosystem-service claims with weak sampling design or pseudoreplication.
98- A single-plot result generalized to landscape scale without justification.
99
100## Re-routing decision
101
102- Crop yield/agronomy and resource-use efficiency is the core → `field-crops-research`.
103- Soil-process mechanism (SOM, microbial function, nutrient cycling) is the core → `soil-biology-and-biochemistry`.
104- Explicit sustainability framing, review, or meta-analysis → `agronomy-for-sustainable-development`.
105- Large-scale climate/global-change ecosystem process dominant → `global-change-biology`.
106- Broad food-systems significance → `nature-food`.
107
108## Output format
109
110```text
111[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason)
112[Target] Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
113[Topic tags] <2–3 closest agriculture–environment topics>
114[Environmental outcome] <the field-to-landscape outcome and its management driver>
115[Method/evidence] <does design + measurement rigor + replication clear AGEE's bar?>
116[Top risk] <the single most likely reason for rejection>
117[Official items to re-check] <article type / data policy / measurement + metadata reporting / disclosures>
118[Re-route suggestion] <if not a fit, a better-matched venue>
119```
120
121---
122
123**Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `Agriculture-Environment-Journal-Skills/skills/agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment/SKILL.md`
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