The Impact of Environmental Stresses on Forest Dynamics and Biodiversity

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystems are under a continuous state of change, shaped by many environmental stresses causing disturbance and affecting the forest succession and biodiversity. Loss in biodiversity, in turn, increases the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climatic disturbances, different abiotic and biotic stress factors, and human impact. Declining biodiversity in forest ecosystems is a global concern, because the forest ecosystems play a vital role in global carbon, nutrient and water cycling, temperature regulation (cooling effect) and human well-being. A positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity from forest ecosystems has been reported globally. Maintaining and restoring biodiversity through the protection of the remaining intact and primary forests, reforestation, and afforestation activities is essential for forest-based climate change mitigation and the long-term stability of the global carbon pool.

This Special Issue on "The Impact of Environmental Stresses to Forest Dynamics and Biodiversity" aims to gather new information about the impacts of abiotic and biotic stress factors on dynamics and biodiversity of forest ecosystems. Research articles may focus on any aspect of interactions between environmental stresses, forest dynamics and biodiversity, including tropical, temporal and boreal forests, inter- and intraspecific competition; plant–microbe, plant–herbivore, and plant–pathogen interactions; genetic and evolutionary processes; or modelling.

Prof. Dr. Elina Oksanen
Prof. Dr. Minna Kivimäenpää
Dr. Anne Kasurinen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• forest ecosystem
• environmental stress
• climate change
• biodiversity
• dynamics