PONE-D-24-18114Refining soil nutrient assessment: incorporating land use boundaries for precision agriculturePLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Thank you for inviting me to review the paper entitled “Refining soil nutrient assessment: incorporating land use boundaries for precision agriculture”. The topic of the article is interesting. I recommend reconsideration of the paper after addressing the following modifications:

• What is the novelty of this manuscript? It should be clearly mentioned in the last paragraph of the introduction.

• The introduction needed to be expanded and the literature review needed to be updated with up-to-date references about contamination due to land use and its effects on soil nutrients, e.g.: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55665-4_2

• Please, replace all the figures with high-resolution ones.

• Figs.1 & 4 & 5 & 6 have not any spatial coordinates. Please, provide them.

• The font of legends is very small. Please, give a suitable font size for legends.

• You should add the limitation of your study at the end of the paper before the conclusion section.

• What is your recommendation for future studies to enhance the applied methodology? You can discuss how to relate your research findings with sustainable development goals (SDGs) to achieve more environmental, economic, and social benefits. References to cite:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2024.101703

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2024.101087

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4101-8_27

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1381-7_6

Reviewer #2: Review report uploaded as an attachment since it exceeds 20,000 characters. All 4 questions have been answered and explained thoroughly. Additional comments for the author has also been added. The file is named answers to questions.

Reviewer #3: 1. The introduction section provides a good overview of the importance of soil nutrient assessment, but it lacks a comprehensive review of the existing literature on similar methodologies. Could you expand on the existing methods for soil nutrient evaluation at the plot level and highlight the novelty or advantages of your proposed approach compared to those methods?

2. In the sample collection and processing section, you mention that both external and internal quality control methods were employed to ensure the reliability of the soil sample analysis. Could you provide more details on the specific external and internal quality control measures taken, as this would help assess the robustness of your data?

3. The spatial interpolation method used in this study is Kriging. While Kriging is a widely used technique, there are various other interpolation methods available (e.g., Inverse Distance Weighting, Radial Basis Functions, etc.). Could you justify the selection of Kriging over other methods and discuss the potential advantages or limitations of using Kriging for this particular study?

4. In the comprehensive evaluation of soil nutrients section, you mention that the weights for AN, AP, AK, and SOM were set based on standards and related research results. However, the rationale behind the specific weight assignment is not explained. Could you provide more details on how these weights were determined and discuss the potential impact of different weight assignments on the final evaluation results?

5. The research focuses on evaluating soil nutrient levels within a specific study area. Could you discuss the potential applicability and transferability of your proposed method to other regions or crops, considering potential variations in soil conditions, climate, and agricultural practices?

6. The study primarily focuses on the spatial distribution and evaluation of soil nutrients. However, it does not address the temporal aspect of soil nutrient dynamics. Could you discuss the potential implications of considering temporal variations in soil nutrient levels and how your proposed method could be adapted or extended to account for such variations?

7. The comprehensive evaluation of soil nutrients is based on a weighted overlay method. While this method provides a single overall score, it may not capture the potential interactions or trade-offs between different nutrient components. Could you discuss the limitations of this approach and explore alternative methods that could provide a more nuanced understanding of soil nutrient dynamics?

8. The study provides valuable insights into soil nutrient levels and their spatial distribution within the study area. However, it does not address the potential causes or drivers of the observed patterns. Could you discuss potential factors (e.g., land use, management practices, environmental conditions) that may influence the spatial distribution of soil nutrients and how these factors could be incorporated into future research?

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: No

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Submitted filename: Answers to questions.pdf

Refining soil nutrient assessment: incorporating land use boundaries for precision agriculture

PONE-D-24-18114R1

Dear authors,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Dear Authors,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am pleased to inform you that after thorough peer review, your manuscript has been accepted for publication. The reviewers have found your work to be a valuable contribution to the field and have recommended it for publication.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: Review uploaded as an attachment since it exceeds 20,000 characters. The name of the file is PlosOne Reviewer Report

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: Yes: Bright Fafali Dogbey

Reviewer #3: No

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Submitted filename: PlosOne Reviewer Report.docx