Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Behavior Across Varied Environments
A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 102
Special Issue Editors
Interests: greenhouse gas emissions and climate feedback in terrestrial ecosystems; wetlands; permafrost; arctic; antarctic; carbon cycle; machine learning
Interests: chloroform; antarctic; tundra; climate change
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Climate change is profoundly altering ecosystems across the globe, from boreal forests and alpine meadows to tropical wetlands and polar regions. These alterations manifest as shifts in species distributions, biodiversity loss, disrupted biogeochemical cycles, and changes in the delivery of ecosystem services. Moreover, extreme climate events such as heatwaves, droughts, and storms are becoming more frequent and intense, posing additional stress on ecosystems. These complex and dynamic changes have cascading effects on ecosystem stability, resilience, and function, with implications for food security, water resources, carbon sequestration, and human wellbeing. Understanding the behavior of ecosystems under climate stress is therefore critical for predicting future changes, informing mitigation and adaptation strategies, and guiding global environmental governance.
This Special Issue aims to collate high-quality, interdisciplinary research that examines the multifaceted impacts of climate change on ecosystems across a wide range of environments: terrestrial, aquatic, and cryospheric. It seeks to highlight both gradual trends (e.g., warming-induced vegetation shifts) and abrupt changes (e.g., tipping points triggered by extreme events) while promoting a systems-level understanding of ecosystem–climate interactions. By integrating ecological, climatological, and biogeochemical perspectives, this Special Issue aligns closely with the scope of Climate, which focuses on climate science and its environmental implications. The collected contributions will provide new insights into the vulnerability and adaptability of ecosystems in the face of accelerating climate change.
Potential topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Impacts of climate change on biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem services;
- Alterations in carbon and nutrient cycling across ecosystems;
- Ecosystem thresholds, resilience, and feedback mechanisms;
- Effects of extreme weather events (e.g., droughts, floods, wildfires) on ecosystem structure and function;
- Modeling and monitoring approaches to assess ecosystem responses to climate stress;
- Nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration under climate change scenarios.
We welcome the submission of original research articles, synthesis reviews, methodological papers, and regional or global case studies that address ecosystem responses to climate variability and change.
Dr. Tao Bao
Dr. Wanying Zhang
Dr. Ning Chen
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. Climate 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 1800 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.
Keywords
- climate change
- ecosystem behavior
- biodiversity
- ecosystem services
- carbon cycling
- extreme weather events
- ecosystem resilience
- climate-induced shifts
- species distributions
- ecosystem functioning
- tipping points
- biogeochemical cycles
- nature-based solutions
- ecosystem restoration
- global change impacts
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