Mediterranean Forest Changes in Response to Climate and Human Activity during the Holocene

Dear Colleagues,

Holocene climate fluctuations and human activity since the Neolithic have shaped present-day Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The Mediterranean has been a dynamic landscape throughout the Holocene, suffering frequent and often irreversible changes in forest structure and diversity. Over the millennia, many species have experienced a decline, while other (e.g., Cupressus sempervirens, Pinus pinea, Castanea sativa) have been transported to areas outside their native range. Humankind and climate are the driving forces of these changes; separating anthropogenic effects from climatic impacts to better understand Mediterranean forest evolution over the last millennium remains a challenging issue. Human activities interact with natural climatic conditions; exploring these interactions helps inform our understanding of which forest ecosystems are most vulnerable to changing climate and land-use, therefore, helping guide management to mitigate the negative consequences of increasingly global changes that pose risks to human communities worldwide. This Special Issue calls for research papers on forest vegetation changes during the Holocene using palaeo-archaeobotanical proxies, historical documents and advanced approaches based on tools such as spatial analysis and ecological modelling.

Prof. Dr. Gaetano Di Pasquale
Dr. Luciano Bosso
Dr. Salvatore Pasta
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.