Forests for Soil and Water Conservation: Strategies and Innovations
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 48
Special Issue Editors
Interests: forestry; hydrology; soil erosion; torrent floods; GIS; remote sensing; ecological engineering; soil and water conservation; land degradation; watershed hydrology; soil erosion modeling; soil erosion control; hydrological modeling; environmental impact assessment
Interests: land degradation; soil erosion modeling; soil quality and health; modeling; soil chemistry; GIS; remote sensing
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil erosion is a critical environmental and socio-economic challenge that is closely linked to climate extremes, unsustainable land use, and ecosystem degradation, particularly the degradation of forest ecosystems. In recent years, advances in computational methods, remote sensing technologies, and environmental modelling have opened up new opportunities to understand and predict erosion processes with higher accuracy and spatial resolution, especially within forested landscapes and watersheds.
This Special Issue aims to bring together innovative research that exploits the following three complementary and rapidly evolving areas:
- Scenario-based modelling of soil erosion under combined land use and climate impacts, with a focus on forested watersheds and forest conservation.
- Multisensor remote sensing for detection, monitoring, and spatial analysis of erosion-prone areas, particularly in forested and mountainous catchments.
- Machine learning approaches, model simulation, and scenario analysis for accurate prediction and interpretation of soil erosion drivers, including their interactions within forest–water systems and integrated watershed management frameworks.
We particularly welcome contributions that integrate Earth observation data (e.g. Sentinel, LiDAR, and UAV), dynamic environmental predictions, and interpretable modelling frameworks in order to advance the science of soil erosion in different geographical and climatic contexts, especially in forested environments. Both methodological innovations and applied case studies are encouraged, especially those that highlight the role of forests in controlling erosion, supporting watershed functioning, and contributing to long-term conservation strategies.
The overall goal is to promote scalable, interdisciplinary, and actionable knowledge that supports more effective soil, water, and forest management and contributes to a broader understanding of soil degradation within the context of conservation and integrated watershed management.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Siniša Polovina
Dr. Veljko Perović
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 erosion
- remote sensing
- land use change
- forest ecosystems
- forest conservation
- climate change
- model simulation and scenario analysis
- forest management scenario
- machine learning
- environmental modeling
- UAV and multisensor data
- spatiotemporal analysis
- forested watersheds
- watershed management
- integrated watershed management
- conservation
- sustainable land management
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.
