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Forests
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Impacts of Climate Change and Forest Management on Forest Carbon...
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Impacts of Climate Change and Forest Management on Forest Carbon and Nitrogen Budgets

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 980

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yunjian Luo

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Guest Editor
College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
Interests: carbon accounting; forest ecosystem monitoring
Prof. Dr. Hesong Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: vegetation dynamics; global change; remote sensing
Dr. Xiaolei Sun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The "Soil-Plant Atmosphere Interactions" Joint Research Unit, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Paris, France
Interests: ecosystem resilience; nutrient cycling under stress; soil-water interface
Dr. Hongwei Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sichuan Mt. Emei Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Interests: forest ecology; ecosystem carbon cycle
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystems play a critical role in mitigating climate change by sequestering atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis and storing carbon in biomass and soil, and nitrogen cycling, a key driver of forest productivity, significantly influences carbon sequestration and ecosystem resilience. However, climate change—characterized by rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events—poses significant challenges to forest carbon and nitrogen budgets. Simultaneously, forest management practices, such as harvesting, thinning, afforestation, and fire management, profoundly influence these budgets by altering biomass accumulation, soil processes, and nutrient availability. Despite their importance, the combined effects of climate change and forest management on carbon and nitrogen budgets remain insufficiently explored across spatial and temporal scales. 

This Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of the synergistic impacts of climate change and forest management on forest carbon and nitrogen budgets. By fostering interdisciplinary research, we aim to inform sustainable forest management strategies in a rapidly changing world. Consequently, the scope of this Special Issue includes both natural and managed forest ecosystems across temperate, boreal, and tropical biomes. 

We invite submissions of original research articles, reviews, and meta-analyses that examine the effects of climate change and forest management on forest carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Contributions should be scientifically robust, innovative, and relevant to the journal’s readership.

Dr. Yunjian Luo
Prof. Dr. Hesong Wang
Dr. Xiaolei Sun
Dr. Hongwei Xu
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

  • forest carbon and nitrogen
  • climate change
  • forest management
  • field investigation
  • modeling
  • remote sensing

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

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 962 KB  
Article
Divergent Effects of Understory Vegetation Manipulation on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in a Temperate–Subtropical Transition Zone Mixed Forest
by Xiaoli Gao, Qian Huang, Liang Chen, Juyan Cui, Yuanchun Yu and Shenglei Fu
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1839; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121839 - 10 Dec 2025
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Abstract
Understory vegetation (shrubs and herbs) mediates belowground biogeochemical processes in forests through litter inputs, root exudation, and microenvironmental regulation; however, the magnitude of these regulatory effects remains poorly quantified. Here, we conducted a 10-year small-scale understory vegetation manipulation experiment in a coniferous–broadleaf mixed [...] Read more.
Understory vegetation (shrubs and herbs) mediates belowground biogeochemical processes in forests through litter inputs, root exudation, and microenvironmental regulation; however, the magnitude of these regulatory effects remains poorly quantified. Here, we conducted a 10-year small-scale understory vegetation manipulation experiment in a coniferous–broadleaf mixed forest in central China, aiming to systematically assess the impacts of understory vegetation on soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) dynamics. Two experimental treatments were established: (1) the “None” treatment (removal of both understory vegetation and litter) and (2) the “Understory” treatment (litter removal while retaining understory vegetation). Results indicated that compared with the “None” treatment, the “Understory” treatment did not significantly alter the concentrations or stocks of soil organic C (SOC) and total N (p > 0.05), suggesting a weak responsiveness of SOC and total N to understory vegetation presence. In contrast, understory vegetation exerted a significant positive effect on soil P fractions: total P concentration and stock increased by 3.97% and 2.68%, organic P by 6.65% and 5.32%, and available P by 46.38% and 43.96%, respectively (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that understory vegetation exerts a more pronounced regulatory effect on soil P dynamics than on C and N dynamics. In conclusion, understory vegetation plays a pivotal role in promoting soil P sequestration and improving P availability in coniferous–broadleaf mixed forest ecosystems. We recommend retaining understory vegetation in forest management practices to sustain soil P availability and mitigate widespread P limitation in such ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Forest Management on Forest Carbon and Nitrogen Budgets)
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14 pages, 1604 KB  
Article
Decoupled Leaf Physiology and Branch-Level BVOC Emissions in Two Tree Species Under Water and Nitrogen Treatments
by Shuangjiang Li, Diao Yan, Xuemei Liu, Maozi Lin and Zhigang Yi
Forests 2025, 16(11), 1708; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16111708 - 9 Nov 2025
Viewed by 425
Abstract
Soil water availability and nitrogen (N) deposition critically influence biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions, thereby affecting atmospheric chemistry. However, their differential short- and long-term effects remain unclear. Here, Ormosia pinnata and Pinus massoniana seedlings were exposed to three water regimes (moderate drought, [...] Read more.
Soil water availability and nitrogen (N) deposition critically influence biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions, thereby affecting atmospheric chemistry. However, their differential short- and long-term effects remain unclear. Here, Ormosia pinnata and Pinus massoniana seedlings were exposed to three water regimes (moderate drought, MD; normal irrigation, NI; near-saturated irrigation, NSI) and two nitrogen (N0; 0 kg N ha−1 yr−1; N80; 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1) treatments for 20 months. Branch-level BVOC emissions and leaf physiological and biochemical traits were examined after 8 months (short term) and 16 months (long term). In the short term, P. massoniana predominantly emitted α-pinene, β-pinene, and γ-terpinene, whereas O. pinnata emitted isoprene (ISO). After prolonged exposure, ISO became the dominant in both species. Short-term MD and NSI conditions stimulated ISO emissions in O. pinnata, with N80 addition further amplifying this effect. In contrast, long-term treatments tended to suppress ISO emissions in O. pinnata, particularly under N80. Short-term water treatments had no significant effect on monoterpene (MT) emissions in P. massoniana. Under long-term water treatments, N80 suppressed ISO emissions; nevertheless, ISO emission rates (ISOrate) progressively increased with increasing soil water availability. Although leaf intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), stomatal conductance (gs), and photosynthesis-related enzymes exhibited partial correlations with BVOC emissions, an overall decoupling between leaf traits and emission patterns was evident. Our findings demonstrate the significant changes in both BVOC composition and emission magnitudes under the joint effects of water availability and nitrogen deposition, providing important implications for improving regional air quality modeling and BVOC emission predictions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Forest Management on Forest Carbon and Nitrogen Budgets)
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