Plant Diversity Discovery and Resource Utilization

Dear Colleagues,

Plants sustain human life, providing essential resources including food, medicine, materials, and ecosystem services. Recent studies have documented 35,687 utilized plant species globally, with medicinal plants alone comprising 23,842 species. Understanding plant diversity and utilization is crucial for sustainable resource management. Nevertheless, the utilization value of many plants remains unexplored, while traditional knowledge about plant utilization faces rapid erosion. The convergence of modern scientific techniques with traditional knowledge systems presents unprecedented opportunities for accelerating plant discovery and developing sustainable utilization strategies. 

This Special Issue focuses on cutting-edge research bridging plant diversity discovery with practical applications and sustainable resource utilization. Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts on the following topics:

• Taxonomic discoveries and revisions for economic plants;
• Ethnobotanical research;
• Phytochemical investigations and bioactivity screening;
• Wild genetic resources for crop improvement and breeding;
• Sustainable harvesting and cultivation systems;
• Plant genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge;
• Climate change impacts on plant resource availability;
• Economic valuation and market development of underutilized species;
• Innovative applications in pharmaceuticals and functional foods;
• Benefit-sharing mechanisms and intellectual property rights.

We particularly encourage interdisciplinary studies integrating traditional knowledge with modern scientific approaches, demonstrating conservation through sustainable utilization.

Dr. Feifei Li
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Bacaro
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. Diversity 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 2100 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.