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Forests
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Urban Forests and Ecosystem Services
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Urban Forests and Ecosystem Services

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 352

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Le Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Interests: ecosystem services; hydrological process; landscape pattern; land use change; climate change
Dr. Alessandro Paletto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Woody, 38123 Trento, Italy
Interests: ecosystem services; public participation; stakeholder analysis; cultural services; forest planning and management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban forests are vital green infrastructure, delivering critical ecosystem services essential for sustainable and resilient cities. This Special Issue of Forests will focus on the multifaceted roles of urban trees and woodlands in enhancing human well-being and environmental quality. We invite original research and reviews addressing the quantification, valuation, mapping, and management of ecosystem services provided by urban forests. Key areas of interest include climate regulation (carbon sequestration, urban heat island mitigation), air and water purification, biodiversity conservation, noise reduction, recreation, and mental health benefits. We particularly welcome studies that explore innovative methodologies for assessing ecosystem service flows, the impacts of urbanization pressures and climate change, socio-ecological dynamics, equitable access, and evidence-based strategies for optimizing urban forest planning, design, and governance. The manuscripts in this Special Issue will advance our understanding of how urban forests contribute to healthier, more livable and sustainable urban environments globally.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovative assessment tools for mapping ecosystem service flows in cities;
  • Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem resilience in urban woodlands;
  • Quantifying urban forest carbon sequestration and climate regulation;
  • Urban forest and the hydrological cycle;
  • Climate-adaptive strategies for sustainable urban forest management;
  • Urban forests for heat island mitigation.

Dr. Le Li
Dr. Alessandro Paletto
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

  • urban forest
  • ecosystem services
  • biodiversity
  • ecosystem resilience
  • ecosystem service flows
  • multi-objective management
  • heat island

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 2141 KB  
Article
Morphological Response of Urban Trees to Pruning: A Case Study of Acacia auriculiformis Across Size Classes
by Kaiheng Liu, Nancai Pei, Yanjun Sun, Jiameng Zhou, Wei Guo and Can Lai
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1826; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121826 - 5 Dec 2025
Viewed by 143
Abstract
Pruning is a regular and essential urban tree maintenance practice aimed at sustaining overall health, ecosystem services, and public safety. However, knowledge of post-pruning recovery dynamics remains limited, which in turn hinders accurate assessments of growth and ecological functions. To address this, we [...] Read more.
Pruning is a regular and essential urban tree maintenance practice aimed at sustaining overall health, ecosystem services, and public safety. However, knowledge of post-pruning recovery dynamics remains limited, which in turn hinders accurate assessments of growth and ecological functions. To address this, we examined recovery dynamics of Acacia auriculiformis, a common urban species. Tree height and crown radius were recorded monthly for 12 months after pruning. Trees were classified into two size groups based on diameter at breast height (DBH, trunk diameter measured at 1.3 m above ground): medium (DBH < 45 cm) and large (DBH ≥ 45 cm). A generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), appropriate for repeated measures and non-normal data, was fitted using a Tweedie distribution and a log-link function to model the recovery pattern. Results showed continuous growth over time, with medium-sized trees presenting significantly higher crown radius growth than large trees (p = 0.006), while height growth did not differ (p = 0.788). The best model for height included time (AIC = −846.4), whereas crown recovery was best modelled by time and size class (AIC = −1586.6). These findings demonstrate that, in this study, medium-sized A. auriculiformis generally recover faster, especially in crown expansion. This exploratory study suggests that tree size may influence post-pruning recovery and can provide a reference for subsequent differentiated management studies. The morphological modeling further provides preliminary quantitative evidence for annual recovery dynamics in urban A. auriculiformis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests and Ecosystem Services)
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