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Forests
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Influence of Environmental Changes on Forest Soil Quality and Health:...
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Influence of Environmental Changes on Forest Soil Quality and Health: 2nd Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 157

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yuanying Peng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Lewis University, Romeoville, IL 60446, USA
Interests: soil respiration; nutrient cycle; carbon stocks; forest biomass; soil quality evaluation; silviculture; forest management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xiaoyong Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Arts and Sciences, Governors State University, University Park, IL 690484, USA
Interests: biomass and primary productivity; CO2 eflux; carbon storage and sequestration; nutrient cycle; forest hydrology; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Wende Yan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Interests: long-term forest ecosystem study; carbon flux; urban forest; agro-forestry; phytoremediation; structure and function of subtropical forests
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural disturbances and human activity have resulted in significant structural, functional, and environmental changes in forest ecosystems. These changes directly or indirectly impact the quality and health of forest soil. Key indicators of these impacts include soil organic matter, carbon pools, carbon sequestration capacity, soil fertility, nutrient cycling, soil water content, soil temperature, soil fauna, and the composition as well as activity of soil microorganisms. However, the specific extent and mechanisms of how environmental changes affect soil quality and health are still not fully understood. This Special Issue aims to provide an overview of recent developments in the fields of forest soil quality and fertility in relation to environmental change. Additionally, it offers scientific references that can contribute to the sustainable management of forest soils.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Amount and distribution of carbon stocks in soil;
  • Ecological stoichiometry of soil nutrients;
  • Carbon sequestration capacity;
  • Evaluation of soil quality;
  • Dynamic patterns of soil CO2 efflux;
  • Phytoremediation of polluted soils;
  • Restoration of degenerated land;
  • Role of soil animal community in the improvement of soil properties;
  • Relationships between soil physicochemical properties and soil carbon pools.

Dr. Yuanying Peng
Prof. Dr. Xiaoyong Chen
Prof. Dr. Wende Yan
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

  • soil quality
  • soil carbon pool
  • nutrient cycle
  • soil respiration
  • forest management
  • phytoremediation
  • environmental change
  • soil property
  • ecological stoichiometry

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 11290 KiB  
Article
Differences in Soil CO2 Emissions Between Managed and Unmanaged Stands of Quercus robur L. in the Republic of Serbia
by Velisav Karaklić, Miljan Samardžić, Saša Orlović, Igor Guzina, Milica Kovač, Zoran Novčić and Zoran Galić
Forests 2025, 16(9), 1369; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091369 (registering DOI) - 23 Aug 2025
Abstract
Soils act as sources or sinks for three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O). Approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions are released from soils through the soil respiration process. Soil respiration (soil CO2 emission) [...] Read more.
Soils act as sources or sinks for three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O). Approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions are released from soils through the soil respiration process. Soil respiration (soil CO2 emission) can account for over 85% of ecosystem respiration. The aim of this study was to compare managed and unmanaged stands of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in order to investigate the impact of forest management on soil CO2 emissions. We selected one managed and two unmanaged stands. The first stand (S1) represents a managed middle-aged stand, which is the optimal stage of development. The second stand (S2) belongs to the over-mature stage of development in an old-growth oak forest, while the third stand (S3) belongs to the decay stage of development in an old-growth oak forest. The closed chambers method was used for air sampling and the air samples were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC). Multiple regression models that include soil temperature (ST), soil moisture (SM), and their interaction provide a better explanation for variation in soil CO2 emission (SCDE) (higher R2 values) compared to regression models that only involve two variables (ST and SM). The study showed that SCDE in the decay stage of old-growth forest (S3) was significantly lower (p < 0.001) compared to the other two stands (S1 and S2). S3 is characterized by very low canopy cover and intensive natural regeneration, unlike S1 and S2. However, there were no significant differences in SCDE between the managed middle-aged stand (S1) and the over-mature (old-growth) stand (S2). Over a long-term rotation period in pedunculate oak forests, forest management practices that involve the periodic implementation of moderate silvicultural interventions can be deemed acceptable in terms of maintaining the carbon balance in the soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Influence of Environmental Changes on Forest Soil Quality and Health: 2nd Edition)
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