Species Richness, Diversity and Habitat Modeling of Wildlife in Forests
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Biodiversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2025 | Viewed by 1312
Special Issue Editor
Interests: spatial analysis and modeling; wildlife ecology and management; protected area management; landscape analysis; geoinformatics; ecosystem services and functions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Wildlife includes all animal organisms that live freely in the natural environment and occupy specific habitats according to their ecological needs. Forest ecosystems are notable for their considerable diversity of life, with many locations identified as exceptional examples of global biodiversity. Forest fauna plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability and health of forest ecosystems, interacting with humans through complex mechanisms. In addition to the direct benefits that forest wildlife provides to humans, such as food and recreational opportunities, numerous indirect advantages are associated with ecological processes, such as trophic relationships, energy flow, and nutrient recycling.
The suitability of different forest ecosystems and the interrelationship between forest structure and management practices significantly affect the extent to which forest fauna's ecological requirements are met. This, in turn, is a crucial factor influencing the distribution and diversity of forest fauna. Concurrently, critical habitat elements, including the presence of dead and old trees and local characteristics such as landscape heterogeneity, contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of forest fauna diversity. The emergence of climate change and the incidence of mega-fires (even in more mountainous areas), in addition to post-fire management strategies for burned areas, represent an emergent challenge regarding understanding the impact of such events on forest fauna. Common threats to forest fauna also include habitat fragmentation, poaching, genetic degradation, invasion of alien species, pollution, and renewable energy sources. These threats can harm the biodiversity and overall health of forest ecosystems.
This Special Issue focuses on enhancing our comprehension of the species richness, diversity, wildlife habitat modeling, and wildlife conservation in forest environments. It comprises research papers and reviews that delve into the complex relationship between wildlife and their habitats.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Species–environment models, including predicting species occurrences, wildlife habitat suitability modeling, GIS-based habitat models, and advanced modeling tools;
- Species richness and ecological relationships;
- Influence of the landscape on the abundance and dynamics of species;
- Wildlife habitat assessment;
- Remote sensing and distribution models;
- Post-fire management on wildlife conservation;
- Forest management and fauna diversity;
- Alien and invasive species, renewable energy, and forest fauna.
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Poirazidis
Guest Editor
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.
Keywords
- forest biodiversity
- habitat suitability models
- management of wildlife conservation
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