Effect of Tree Diversity on Insect Herbivory in Forest Ecosystems
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019)
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant–insect interactions; forest entomology
Interests: multitrophic interactions; biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships; forest entomology; consequences of human impact and climate change for insect communities and related processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Trees and forests provide a wide variety of ecosystem services including the provision of timber, climate regulation and cultural services. Insect pests threaten such services, making the development of environmentally sustainable management strategies to protect trees and forests a high priority in forest research. Over the last decade, increasing evidence has demonstrated that mixed forests are generally more resistant to insect pests than monospecific stands, a phenomenon known as associational resistance. However, a substantial number of studies have reported the opposite trend, i.e., a greater susceptibility of mixed forests. This Special Issue addresses the well-studied but still largely debated relationship between tree species diversity and insect herbivory. It compiles studies exploring several ecological factors likely to explain such discrepancies, including differences in the feeding guild, diet breadth or mobility of insect pests, or changes in the functional and phylogenetic composition of mixed forests. By doing so, it aims to build a more general understanding of the diversity–resistance relationship in mixed forests, and therefore helps to formulate possible predictive rules to protect forests against insect pests.
Dr. Bastien Castagneyrol
Dr. Martin M. Gossner
Dr. Xoaquín Moreira
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
- tree diversity
- pest insects
- herbivory
- forest pest management
- associational resistance
