Roles and Interactions of Insects and Microbes in Forest Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Forests are biotic communities comprised of multiple interacting species. These communities can change in response to natural and/or anthropogenic disturbances such as succession, the arrival of invasive species and climate change. Along with trees, forest communities contain insects and microbes with multiple roles that may be independent of one another but are often interactive. These organisms can impact the ability of each species to survive and perform within a forest system as well as influencing the overall system dynamics. Some insects and microbes are intimately involved in ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation and pollination. Some are long-established community members with known relationships that can affect forest health and management (e.g., bark beetles, defoliators, root rots), but these relationships are changing in the presence of anthropogenic disturbances. Other recently-arrived invasive species have changed community structure and dynamics (e.g., European woodwasp and sudden oak death). From a forest ecology and management perspective, these relationships and interactions require further investigation. This Special Issue seeks manuscripts that address the interactive roles of insects and microbes in forest systems as well as how those organisms and their roles are changing.

Prof. Stephen Cook
Guest Editor

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.