Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.6
2.5
Journals
Forests
Special Issues
Mangrove Wetland Restoration and Rehabilitation Under Climate Change and Human...
share announcement

Mangrove Wetland Restoration and Rehabilitation Under Climate Change and Human Cumulative Impacts in the 21st Century

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 June 2026 | Viewed by 3839

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Victor H. Rivera-Monroy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast and the Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Interests: estuarine and coastal ecosystems; biogeochemistry of wetlands; landscape modeling/ecosystem models; coastal management/aquaculture; mangrove forest rehabilitation/restoration; nutrient cycling inwetlands (nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon); climate change and variability impact on social-ecological systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jorge Lopez-Portillo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Ecología, A.C., INECOL, Red de Ecología Funcional, Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, Xalapa 91070, Mexico
Interests: forest; mangrove; wetland forests
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xosé Lois Otero-Pérez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CRETUS, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, School of Biology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Interests: environmental geochemistry; soil and water degradation and recovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Tiago Osorio Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ-USP), Av. Pádua Dias 11, Piracicaba 13418-900, SP, Brazil
Interests: soil geochemistry; land reclamation; technosols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Given the rapid global decline of wetlands and other ecosystems in the last three decades, there is a sense of urgency to stop the causes triggering this reduction and accelerate their restoration and rehabilitation (R/R). Thus, the United Nations launched the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration” to highlight the need for action in the short term. This approach emphasizes the critical role of stakeholders in defining and evaluating criteria to implement successful R/R programs. Yet, the monetary and social costs of implementing these programs are also growing exponentially, thus underscoring the need to assess the causes of degradation at the local, regional, and global levels. Indeed, although mangrove forests are recognized as one of the most valuable wetlands in the world and are associated with a wide range of goods and services—including mitigating global warming— the loss rate is highly variable among countries, given the significant differences in conservation policies and government priorities in the long term. Thus, a comparative analysis of “what works” and “what does not” when rehabilitating or restoring mangrove wetlands is needed—especially in cases where stakeholders are directly involved in the design of R/R programs. As in the first Special Issue, this second Special Issue also encourages the submission of studies from all fields, including experimental and observational studies, monitoring approaches, and modeling. This collective effort will help to continue synthesizing “lessons learned” to advance knowledge, understanding, and adaptation strategies to protect and conserve one of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Dr. Victor H. Rivera-Monroy
Dr. Jorge Lopez-Portillo
Dr. Xosé Lois Otero-Pérez
Prof. Dr. Tiago Osorio Ferreira
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.

Keywords

  • biodiversity
  • biogeochemistry
  • blue carbon
  • climate change
  • community-based restoration
  • ecophysiology
  • ecosystem services
  • hydrological restoration
  • monitoring and modeling
  • natural regeneration
  • stakeholder participation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

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

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 7475 KB  
Article
Trade-Offs in Aboveground and Soil Mangrove Carbon Stocks Under Species Introduction: Remote Sensing Reveals Temporal Divergence in Restoration Trajectories
by Zongyang Wang, Fen Guo, Xuelan Zeng, Zixun Huang, Honghao Xie, Xiaoguang Ouyang and Yuan Zhang
Forests 2025, 16(11), 1696; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16111696 - 7 Nov 2025
Viewed by 464
Abstract
Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in global carbon cycling, serving as significant carbon sinks by storing carbon in both aboveground biomass (ACG) and soil carbon stock (SOC). However, the temporal dynamics of ACG and SOC, as well as their spatial variations across [...] Read more.
Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in global carbon cycling, serving as significant carbon sinks by storing carbon in both aboveground biomass (ACG) and soil carbon stock (SOC). However, the temporal dynamics of ACG and SOC, as well as their spatial variations across different mangrove age stages, remain poorly understood, particularly under the influence of introduced species such as Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham. To address these gaps, our study used a long-term series of NDVI from Landsat (from 1990 to 2024) and the mangrove product of China (1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018) to estimate the mangrove age stage (Stage I 10–24 years, Stage II 24–34 years, and Stage III > 34 years). UAV-LiDAR and in-situ surveys were applied to measure mangrove canopy height to calculate ACG and measure the belowground soil carbon stock, respectively. Combined with the mangrove age stage, ACG, and SOC, our results reveal that ACG accumulates rapidly in younger mangroves dominated by Sonneratia apetala, peaking early (<20 years) and then stabilizing as mangroves, indicating that the introduction of Sonneratia apetala changed the increase in ACG with age. In contrast, SOC increases more gradually over time, with only older mangroves (over 30 years) storing significantly higher SOC. Root structure, TN, and TP were sensitive to the SOC. The different root structures (pneumatophore, plank, pop, and knee root) had different SOC results, and the pneumatophore had the lowest SOC. Remote sensing data revealed that the introduction of Sonneratia apetala altered the species composition of younger mangroves, leading to its predominance within these ecosystems. This shift in species composition not only altered the temporal dynamics of aboveground carbon (ACG) but also favored pneumatophore-dominated root structures, which were associated with the lowest soil organic carbon (SOC). Consequently, younger stands may require more time to accumulate SOC to levels comparable to older mangrove forests. These results suggest that restoration targets for vegetation carbon and soil carbon should be set on different timelines, explicitly accounting for stand age, species composition, and root functional types. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mangrove Wetland Restoration and Rehabilitation Under Climate Change and Human Cumulative Impacts in the 21st Century)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 25345 KB  
Article
Mangrove Damage and Early-Stage Canopy Recovery Following Hurricane Roslyn in Marismas Nacionales, Mexico
by Samuel Velázquez-Salazar, Luis Valderrama-Landeros, Edgar Villeda-Chávez, Cecilia G. Cervantes-Rodríguez, Carlos Troche-Souza, José A. Alcántara-Maya, Berenice Vázquez-Balderas, María T. Rodríguez-Zúñiga, María I. Cruz-López and Francisco Flores-de-Santiago
Forests 2025, 16(8), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16081207 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 2728
Abstract
Hurricanes are powerful tropical storms that can severely damage mangrove forests through uprooting trees, sediment erosion, and saltwater intrusion, disrupting their critical role in coastal protection and biodiversity. After a hurricane, evaluating mangrove damage helps prioritize rehabilitation efforts, as these ecosystems play a [...] Read more.
Hurricanes are powerful tropical storms that can severely damage mangrove forests through uprooting trees, sediment erosion, and saltwater intrusion, disrupting their critical role in coastal protection and biodiversity. After a hurricane, evaluating mangrove damage helps prioritize rehabilitation efforts, as these ecosystems play a key ecological role in coastal regions. Thus, we analyzed the defoliation of mangrove forest canopies and their early recovery, approximately 2.5 years after the landfall of Category 3 Hurricane Roslyn in October 2002 in Marismas Nacionales, Mexico. The following mangrove traits were analyzed: (1) the yearly time series of the Combined Mangrove Recognition Index (CMRI) standard deviation from 2020 to 2025, (2) the CMRI rate of change (slope) following the hurricane’s impact, and (3) the canopy height model (CHM) before and after the hurricane using satellite and UAV-LiDAR data. Hurricane Roslyn caused a substantial decrease in canopy cover, resulting in a loss of 47,202 ha, which represents 82.8% of the total area of 57,037 ha. The CMRI standard deviation indicated early signs of canopy recovery in one-third of the mangrove-damaged areas 2.5 years post-impact. The CMRI slope indicated that areas near the undammed rivers had a maximum recovery rate of 0.05 CMRI units per month, indicating a predicted canopy recovery of ~2.5 years. However, most mangrove areas exhibited CMRI rates between 0.01 and 0.03 CMRI units per month, anticipating a recovery time between 40 months (approximately 3.4 years) and 122 months (roughly 10 years). Unfortunately, most of the already degraded Laguncularia racemosa forests displayed a negative CMRI slope, suggesting a lack of canopy recovery so far. Additionally, the CHM showed a median significant difference of 3.3 m in the canopy height of fringe-type Rhizophora mangle and Laguncularia racemosa forests after the hurricane’s landfall. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mangrove Wetland Restoration and Rehabilitation Under Climate Change and Human Cumulative Impacts in the 21st Century)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop