Multiple-Use and Ecosystem Services of Forests—2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystem management or multiple-use forest management is multi-faceted, encompassing a diverse array of practices which aim to identify, quantify, and integrate various ecosystem services  in order to enhance societal wellbeing. Ecosystem services, such as wood production, carbon sequestration, water regulation, soil conservation, biodiversity habitatprovision, and aesthetic recreation are commonly classified as provisioning, regulation, supporting, and cultural services. The management of multiple ecosystem services across a landscape has garnered substantial attention from researchers and practitioners.

Addressing the design and regulation of multiple ecosystem services via a decision support system based on a participatory approach is a challenging research endeavor. Vast amounts of research have been devoted to the study of various aspects of ecosystem services, mainly to address economic, ecological, and sociocultural aspects of forest ecosystems, and contribute to the creation of socio-economic opportunities in order to foster rural development, mitigate climate change impacts, conserve soil and biodiversity, and promote carbon-neutral societies. Ample opportunities exist to unlock the full potential of multiple ecosystem services, creating new knowledge and tools to optimize the sustainable provision and profitability of ecosystem services. This includes fostering legislative and participatory conditions for the integrated management of multiple ecosystem services. Therefore, we encourage contributions of research endeavors that involve the development of models, methods, processes, and decision support tools to address the inventory, planning, modeling, mapping, governance, certification, and marketing of ecosystem services for this Special Issue. Such an initiative will also enrich the ecosystem service knowledge base and strengthen research strategies in order to support a full encapsulation of multiple ecosystem services. Submitted papers for publication in this Special Issue will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the prompt and wide dissemination of research results and applications.

Dr. Susete Marques
Prof. Dr. Emin Z. Başkent
Dr. Brigite Botequim
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.