PONE-D-24-48168Agroforestry adoption and its influence on soil quality under smallholder maize production systems in western KenyaPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Nyuma,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

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Timothy Omara

Academic Editor

PLOS 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: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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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: Yes

Reviewer #2: 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

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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: Agroforestry adoption and its influence on soil quality under smallholder maize

production systems in western Kenya

Henry Tamba Nyuma

Comment: Include Ruth Njoroge and Abigael Otinga in the author list. As supervisors of the project, they have contributed immensely to the manuscript.

ABSTRACT

Comment: This is Not complete. You stopped at results. No discussion, conclusion and recommendation is summarized within the abstract. Please populate this abstract to make it informative.

INTRODUCTION

Expand your introduction by discussing lessons drawn globally, nationally then lastly in the study area before opening up to what you are investigating. Its improtant to open up the introduction to broaden your scope for investigation.

METHODOLOGY

�Line 94: explain unique environmental characteristics that qualify the choice of the study area

�State how you selected your ‘n’ and why the approach you chose is superior to other statistical approaches on population selection and choice of n

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

�Results are well presented for analyzed nutrients. Results well illustrated in figures.

�Interpretation well done under the discussion chapter.

�Comparison of results with previous studies well done.

�Citation used to standard required

�Recent citations also utilized in the study

CONCLUSION

This is a well concluded manuscript. Recommendation for future studies also made.

Reviewer #2: Abstract:

Line 10: was-introduced? Why a hyphen?

Line 24-25: Can Sesbania and Leucaena influence Clay? How?

Introduction:

Line 38: 36–75 billion hectares? please check the value.

Line 49-50: showed a 30-60% decline in the yields of maize ? English may be improved here

Overall, the introduction section is written meticulously

Methods:

Line 87-88: Figure 1 should be put in bracket? Please see journal style and apply throughout the manuscript.

Line 106-118: Please mention information on soil sampling depth in this section

Line 124: correct English

Section 2.4 Data Analysis: Please explain how one way ANOVA was conducted with Paired observations? Or it was done between agroforestry tree species. Please mention clearly.

Results:

Line 180: should one put clay content as a variable to be affected by agroforestry practices? Also in Table 2? Please check throughout the manuscript and modify if required

Discussion:

Line 280: also water erosion?

Line 280-281: agree with [45] who reported….please check journal format..and change throughout the manuscript accordingly.

Line 302: can be is increased? Correct the same.

Line 309: Suleiman [60]? Refer to comment line 280-281 above.

Line 327: Riyadh et al. ([68]?

The discussion section is fairly well written and can be improved with improvement in English.

Conclusion: Some important results may be highlighted in this section, otherwise well written.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  DR. BETTY ALOSA MULIANGA

Reviewer #2: No

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While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: agroforestry and soil quality.docx

PONE-D-24-48168R1Agroforestry adoption and its influence on soil quality under smallholder maize production systems in western KenyaPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Nyuma,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 09 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org . When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols .

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Timothy Omara

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

Dear Authors,

I have attached some corrections to be made to your manuscript as in the attachment.

Specifically, the names of the authors should preferably be indicated in full, and figures need to be properly labelled.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

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 #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: 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 #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: 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 #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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 #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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 #1: My comments have been adressed.

Results well presented for analyzed nutrients

Interpretation well done under discussion

Comparison of results with previous studies well done

No new comments

Reviewer #2: The authors have addressed all comments that was raised appropriately. I recomend the manuscript to be accepted.

**********

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 #1: Yes:  BETTY ALOSA MULIANGA

Reviewer #2: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: agroforestry and soil quality (1).docx

Attachment

Submitted filename: Manuscript AE COMMENTS am 22.01.2024.docx

Agroforestry adoption and its influence on soil quality under smallholder maize production systems in western Kenya

PONE-D-24-48168R2

Dear Dr. Nyuma,

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.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Timothy Omara

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: