Dynamic Secondary Forest: Ecosystem Structure, Functions, and Future Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Secondary forests are forests that have been formed after large-scale human disturbance up to the present and include a variety of forests depending on how they are interpreted. While primary forests comprise about 1/3 of the total forest area rapidly disappearing, secondary forests have remained the same or increased slightly. Secondary forests, as familiar forest ecosystems to forest scientists (?), have provided much of the knowledge to the field of forest science. There are also a number of internationally renowned secondary forests, such as the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the U.S. and the Takayama sites in Japan, which have contributed greatly to the promotion of research in forest science.

However, since these secondary forests are spatially diverse and vary greatly with time, further research is still needed to understand the current situation as well as to predict the future situation under various environmental changes.

In this Special Issue, we invite regular papers and reviews on a wide range of topics related to secondary forest structure (including not only canopy trees but also understory, mid-shrubs, and soil), functions, and future perspectives based on field studies. As for ecosystem functions, we are particularly interested in papers on carbon and nutrient cycles. Future predictions are also an important topic, and we expect papers that include the perspective of sustainable use of secondary forests.  However, modeling studies without empirical evidence will not be considered.

Prof. Dr. Mitsuru Hirota
Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Ohtsuka
Guest Editors

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