Physiological Responses of Woody Plants to Elevated CO₂, Drought, and Climate Variations from Local to Global

Dear Colleagues,

Forests are among the most important ecosystems on Earth, covering approximately one-third of the planet's land surface. They provide essential commercial products, food, medicinal plants, and specialized habitats, while also playing a crucial role in the global carbon cycle through interaction with other biogeochemical cycles. The physiological responses of woody plants to climate variability, increasingly prolonged droughts,  global warming, and rising CO₂ concentrations, alongside other greenhouse gases, require urgent strategies for the use, management, conservation and preservation of forest ecosystems. Without such measures, unexpected physiological collapses in trees could occur, potentially endangering key ecological components of interconnected ecosystems. However, accurately estimating and predicting the physiological responses of forest ecosystems requires a deeper understanding of tree responses across different environments and latitudes. Assessing the current physiological health of forests and projecting future trends must account for multiple factors, including rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, floods, droughts, increasing CO₂ levels, N deposition, atmospheric pollutants, and other greenhouse gases. Therefore, the physiological resilience of forests to drought and climate variations presents both present and future challenges. Addressing these issues on a large scale will require new management and conservation strategies beyond those previously implemented. Such measures are essential for maintaining ecological balance in forest ecosystems and ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem goods and services for present and future generations.

This Special Issue will explore the physiological responses of woody plants to environmental stressors associated with climate variations, including elevated CO₂ levels, droughts, and other changes in biogeochemical cycles. It will highlight research that enhances our understanding of tree resilience, adaptation mechanisms, and the ecological consequences of physiological changes across different latitudes and under-represented ecosystems. Our ultimate goal is to provide scientific insights that inform conservation, management, and policy strategies to safeguard the health and stability of forest ecosystems.

This Special Issue invites contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Physiological responses of woody plants to elevated CO₂, drought, temperature changes, and other climate-related stressors;
• Interactions between physiological processes and biogeochemical cycles, including carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles;
• Predictive models and assessment tools for estimating the future physiological health of forests under changing environmental conditions;
• The role of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases in altering tree growth, photosynthesis, and water-use efficiency;
• Strategies for forest conservation and adaptive management to mitigate the risks of physiological collapse and ensure ecosystem resilience;
• Use of isotopes and dendrochronology, dendroclimatology and dendroecology in woody plants.

We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that contribute to a deeper understanding of forest physiological responses under current climate variability.

Dr. Luis Ubaldo Castruita-Esparza
Dr. Arian Correa Díaz
Dr. Julian Cerano Paredes
Dr. Gerónimo Quiñonez Barraza
Dr. Concepción Luján Álvarez
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.

• climate change
• physiological responses
• drought stress
• woody plants
• forests
• temperature change
• tree growth
• photosynthesis
• water-use efficiency
• forest physiological