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Forests
Special Issues
Forest Vegetation and Soils: Interaction, Management and Alterations—Second Edition
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Forest Vegetation and Soils: Interaction, Management and Alterations—Second Edition

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 3439

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qiwu Sun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: soil degradation; soil microbial diversity; soil remediation; plant functional group; biochar
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lingyu Hou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: soil microorganism; soil degradation; soil remediation; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Suyan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
Interests: forest soil; soil remediation; forestry waste resource utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests’ grassland vegetation and its soil understory are always shifting as a result of global climate change, altering the function of forest-ecosystem services.

For this reason, the following issues must be addressed urgently by both researchers of forests and grass and those in management departments:

  • How do different heterogeneous spatial distributions of forest (grassland) vegetation and soils respond to global climate change?
  • What are their strengths and driving mechanisms?
  • How can we manage forest vegetation and soil sources efficiently?
  • How can we improve the function of ecosystem services?

We welcome papers and reviews concerning, but not limited to, the following: changes in forest and grassland vegetation and soils in different areas, forest and grassland vegetation and soil management, plant–soil–microorganism interactions, the resource utilization of forestry waste, etc. Moreover, studies investigating changes in forest and grassland resources as a result of climate change and related policies, together with the characteristics of soil change and its driving mechanisms, will also be considered.

Dr. Qiwu Sun
Dr. Lingyu Hou
Prof. Dr. Suyan Li
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.

Keywords

  • forest vegetation
  • soil degradation
  • ecosystem services
  • forest management
  • soil microorganisms

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1917 KiB  
Article
Dynamics of Soil N and P Nutrient Heterogeneity in Mixed Forest of Populus × Euramercana ‘Neva’ and Robinia pseucdoacacia in Coastal Saline–Alkali Land
by Shumei Wang, Changxiao Lv, Bingxiang Tang, Mengxiao Wang, Banghua Cao and Ke Wu
Forests 2024, 15(12), 2226; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15122226 - 17 Dec 2024
Viewed by 699
Abstract
The mixing of poplar and robinia in coastal saline land is a useful attempt at difficult site afforestation. Investigating the long–term mixing effects of nitrogen–fixing and non–nitrogen–fixing tree species on the spatial heterogeneity of N and P nutrients and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics [...] Read more.
The mixing of poplar and robinia in coastal saline land is a useful attempt at difficult site afforestation. Investigating the long–term mixing effects of nitrogen–fixing and non–nitrogen–fixing tree species on the spatial heterogeneity of N and P nutrients and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics in the coastal saline–alkali soil can provide a scientific basis for soil improvement and plantation management in the coastal saline–alkali soil. By replacing time with space, poplar and robinia mixed forests and corresponding pure forests with the ages of 3, 7 and 18 years were selected, and soil profiles of 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm were dug up to determine the contents of total nitrogen, hydrolyzed nitrogen, total phosphorus and available phosphorus, the activities of soil urease and phosphatase and the number of soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in rhizosphere soil. The mixture of poplar and robinia and the increase in planting years led to the heterogeneity of soil N and P in a coastal saline–alkali forest, which could significantly increase the contents of soil total nitrogen, hydrolyzed nitrogen, total phosphorus and available phosphorus between soil layers. Compared with the pure forest of poplar and robinia at the same age, the soil urease activity in the 0–20 cm soil layer of an 18a poplar and robinia mixed forest increased by 94.75% and 73.36%, and the soil phosphatase activity increased by 30.36% and 70.27%. The mix of poplar and robinia significantly increased the abundance of soil microorganisms in saline–alkali soil. The number of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the 0–20 cm soil layer of the 18a poplar and robinia mixed forest was the highest, which were 703,200, 31,297 and 1903, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between soil N and P nutrient contents, soil enzyme activities and microbial abundance. The soil depth of N and P nutrient decomposition and transformation in the mixed poplar and robinia plantation was expanded. The soil N and P nutrient contents, enzyme activities and microbial abundance in the 40–60 cm soil layer of the mixed forest were higher than those of the pure forest. With the increase in plantation years, the depth of soil that can be used in the forest land is increasing. The mixture of poplar and robinia plantation is an excellent choice for the construction of coastal saline–alkali land plantation, which has a significant mixed gain for the decomposition and transformation of N and P nutrients and increases the depth of the available soil layer in the forest land in coastal saline–alkali land. However, the coastal saline–alkali land soil N/P is < 14 and is still restricted by nitrogen, so the application of nitrogen fertilizer can be increased during the afforestation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Vegetation and Soils: Interaction, Management and Alterations—Second Edition)
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19 pages, 3908 KiB  
Article
Effects of Ectomycorrhizae and Hyphae on Soil Fungal Community Characteristics Across Forest Gap Positions
by Ya Shen, Lin Xu, Chengming You, Li Zhang, Han Li, Lixia Wang, Sining Liu, Hongwei Xu, Bo Tan and Zhenfeng Xu
Forests 2024, 15(12), 2131; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15122131 - 2 Dec 2024
Viewed by 929
Abstract
The interactive effects of environmental heterogeneity caused by forest gaps and ectomycorrhizae on fungal community characteristics remain insufficiently explored. To address this knowledge gap, we established a three-year field manipulation experiment in a Picea asperata (Picea asperata Mast.) plantation located in the [...] Read more.
The interactive effects of environmental heterogeneity caused by forest gaps and ectomycorrhizae on fungal community characteristics remain insufficiently explored. To address this knowledge gap, we established a three-year field manipulation experiment in a Picea asperata (Picea asperata Mast.) plantation located in the subalpine region of western Sichuan, China. Growth bags with three mesh sizes—1000 μm (allowing ectomycorrhizae and hyphae), 48 μm (excluding ectomycorrhizae), and 1 μm (excluding both)—were placed across forest gaps (closed canopy, gap edge, and gap center) to investigate how gap disturbances influence soil fungal communities via changes in ectomycorrhizal and hyphal turnover alongside soil physicochemical properties. Soil fungal α-diversity was significantly lower under closed-canopy conditions than at forest gap centers and remained unaffected by ectomycorrhizal and hyphal treatments. Particularly, species diversity increased by 9%, and phylogenetic diversity increased by 10% in forest gap centers compared to the closed canopy. In contrast, soil fungal β-diversity responded to both ectomycorrhizal/hyphal treatments (R2 = 0.061; p = 0.001) and forest gap positions (R2 = 0.033; p = 0.003). Pairwise comparative analyses revealed significant distinctions between treatments, concurrently excluding ectomycorrhizal and hyphal treatments versus other experimental treatments, as well as between closed-canopy conditions and forest gap centers. The fungal community was dominated by four major phyla: Ascomycota (25.6%–71.0%), Basidiomycota (17.7%–43.7%), Mortierellomycota (1.4%–24.5%), and Rozellomycota (0.4%–2.9%), the relative abundances of which were unaffected by either ectomycorrhizal/hyphal treatments or forest gap positions. The biomass of ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi showed no significant response to ectomycorrhizal/hyphal treatments. Notably, the exclusion of ectomycorrhizae and hyphae enhanced the significant correlations between fungal community characteristics and soil physicochemical properties. Hierarchical partitioning analysis revealed that the soil water content (SWC) and dissolved organic carbon content were the key determinants of soil fungal community characteristics beneath closed-canopy conditions. In contrast, at forest gap edges and centers, the fungal communities were predominantly shaped by the SWC and dissolved carbon and nitrogen contents. This study highlights the impacts of forest gap disturbances and ectomycorrhizal treatments on soil fungal communities, offering valuable insights for the sustainable management and biodiversity conservation of subalpine forest ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Vegetation and Soils: Interaction, Management and Alterations—Second Edition)
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12 pages, 5931 KiB  
Article
Soil-Moisture-Dependent Temperature Sensitivity of Soil Respiration in a Poplar Plantation in Northern China
by Huan He, Tonggang Zha and Jiongrui Tan
Forests 2024, 15(8), 1466; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081466 - 21 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1201
Abstract
The temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil respiration (Rs) plays a crucial role in evaluating the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems under global warming. However, the variability in Q10 along soil moisture gradients remains a subject of debate, and the associated [...] Read more.
The temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil respiration (Rs) plays a crucial role in evaluating the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems under global warming. However, the variability in Q10 along soil moisture gradients remains a subject of debate, and the associated underlying causes are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of Q10 changes along soil moisture gradients throughout the whole growing season and to assess the factors influencing Q10 variability. Changes in soil respiration (measured by the dynamic chamber method) and soil properties were analyzed in a poplar plantation located in the suburban area of Beijing, China. The results were as follows: (1) Q10 increased with the increasing soil water content up to a certain threshold, and then decreased, (2) the threshold was 75% to 80% of the field capacity (i.e., the moisture content at capillary rupture) rather than the field water-holding capacity, and (3) the dominant influence shifted from soil solid-phase properties to microbes with increasing soil moisture. Our results are important for understanding the relationship between the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and soil moisture in sandy soil, and for the refinement of the modeling of carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Vegetation and Soils: Interaction, Management and Alterations—Second Edition)
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