The Relationship between Biomass Growth and Tree Size

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2024) | Viewed by 1262

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Forest and Environment, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany
Interests: forest ecology; dendroclimatology; biomass production in forest ecosystems; sustainable forest management; adaptation to climate change; integration of non-native tree species

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biomass growth in forest ecosystems is of the utmost interest to a large range of scientific and societal fields because of its relevance for resource production, carbon sequestration, provision of habitats, and many other ecosystem services. Forest management strategies as well as conservation and protective efforts seek to maintain and improve biomass production. Important aspects of these targets comprise quantity as well as quality and the diversity of biomass growth, addressing issues of biodiversity and the balance between growth and decomposition on the landscape level.

Because of the major role of trees as structural elements in forest ecosystems, the effects of tree size on biomass growth and vice versa have been at the center of a large number of studies and projects. In this Special Issue, we will present contributions that highlight the manifold relationships between tree size and biomass growth in all their variety, their implications for forest ecosystem services, and their consequences for forest management and conservation.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Recent advances in the assessment and modeling of tree size and biomass growth;
  • A closer look: components, nutrient contents, usage, and decomposition of biomass;
  • Effects of forest site conditions on biomass growth, tree size, and their connections;
  • Biomass growth in various ecosystem types and management intensities, from primary forests to plantations;
  • Biomass dynamics in relation to tree size variance;
  • Energy and material balances on the ecosystem level in dependence on tree size;
  • Consequences of tree–size–biomass relationships for forest ecosystem management and conservation.

Prof. Dr. Jens Schröder
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 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

  • biomass
  • net primary production
  • biomass productivity
  • tree size
  • stand dynamics
  • size–growth relationship

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

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

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 3753 KiB  
Article
Quantification of the Influencing Factors of Stand Productivity of Subtropical Natural Broadleaved Forests in Eastern China Using an Explainable Machine Learning Framework
by Qun Du, Chenghao Zhu, Biyong Ji, Sen Xu, Binglou Xie, Jianwu Wang and Zhengyi Wang
Forests 2025, 16(1), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16010095 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 864
Abstract
Natural broadleaf forests (NBFs) are the most abundant zonal vegetation type in subtropical regions. Understanding the mechanisms influencing stand productivity in NBFs is important for developing “nature-based” solutions for climate change mitigation. However, minimal research has captured the effects of nonlinearities and feature [...] Read more.
Natural broadleaf forests (NBFs) are the most abundant zonal vegetation type in subtropical regions. Understanding the mechanisms influencing stand productivity in NBFs is important for developing “nature-based” solutions for climate change mitigation. However, minimal research has captured the effects of nonlinearities and feature interactions that often have nonlinear impacts on stand productivity and influencing factors. To address this research gap, we used continuous forest inventory data, and a machine learning model for stand productivity of NBFs was constructed. Subsequently, through leveraging the interpretable machine learning framework of the SHapley Additive explanation (SHAP) and partial dependence plot, we determined global and local explanations of the influencing factors of stand productivity. Our findings indicate the following: (1) The Autogluon model performed the strongest based on R2, RMSE, and rRMSE metrics. (2) The basal area (BA), neighborhood comparison of diameter at breast height (NC), and stand age (AGE) were the key influencing factors. Stand productivity increased with increasing BA and decreased with increasing NC and AGE. BA was maintained above 15 m2ha−1 and NC was maintained below 0.45, which represent favorable conditions for NBFs to maintain optimal growth. (3) SHAP interaction values were calculated to determine the effects of the five major interactions on stand productivity. Our study provides a reference for the sustainable management of NBFs, thereby highlighting the important role of forests in mitigating climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Biomass Growth and Tree Size)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop