Influence of Environmental Changes on Forest Soil Quality and Health

Dear Colleagues,

Natural disturbance 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 and 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 field 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:

• 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 improvement of soil property;
• 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 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.