Stable Isotopes in Forest Ecosystem Research

Dear colleagues,

Globally, forests are able to fix about 30% of annual anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, and may be responsible for 70–90% of continental water losses. Therefore, understanding forest response to environmental drivers is crucial to anticipate and eventually mitigate the impacts of future global change. For this purpose, stable isotopes analysis has become a particularly suitable tool, offering time- and space-integrated information on the environmental effects on tree physiology and the implications for carbon, water and nutrient ecosystem balances. In this Special Issue, we invite studies developing applications of stable isotopes in forest ecology, tree physiology and ecohydrology, as well as modelling or empirical studies aimed at improving our mechanistic understanding of isotope fractionation in trees.

In particular, we encourage studies on the application of stables isotopes to the study of:

• ecological interactions in relation to the use of resources, e.g. nutrients, water, light;
• genetic variability in water uptake and water use efficiency in trees;
• nutrient balance of forests in response to environmental or anthropogenic changes;
• nitrogen dynamics: soil-mycorrhiza-plant interface;
• interaction between forests and the hydrological cycle;
• physiological response to different silvicultural treatments or disturbances;
• whole-tree and ecosystem carbon and water balances;
• validation and/or development of mechanistic models of isotope fractionation;

Dr. Juan Pedro Ferrio Díaz
Prof. Dr. M. Larry Lopez C.
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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