Forests and Climate Change: Hydraulic Responses and Adaptation Mechanisms Under Extreme Events
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Hydrology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 55
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ecology; environmental science; stable isotope analysis; dendrochronology; isotopes; environmental stresses; ecophysiology; trees; stable isotopes; tree physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: dendrochronology; quantitative wood anatomy; xylogenesis dynamics; eco-physiology; sapflow monitoring; stable isotope in tree-ring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events—such as prolonged droughts, heat waves, and intense rainfall—threatening the stability and functioning of forest ecosystems worldwide. These stressors directly affect tree hydraulic performance, water transport systems, growth dynamics, carbon assimilation, and overall forest resilience and survival.
Understanding how trees respond and adapt to extreme events is essential for predicting future ecosystem dynamics.
Trees employ several adaptations to withstand water stress, maintain xylem functionality, and balance trade-offs between hydraulic efficiency and safety. Research on embolism vulnerability, stomatal regulation, xylem cell adaptation, and tree water use can help define eco-physiological resistance thresholds under stress, revealing both survival strategies and patterns of forest decline.
This Special Issue invites contributions that explore how forest ecosystems respond to hydraulic stress induced by extreme climate events. We welcome studies that integrate field observations, experimental approaches, remote sensing, stable isotope analysis, and eco-physiological modelling to unravel the mechanisms of adaptation and vulnerability across spatial and temporal scales.
Potential research topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Hydraulic mechanisms of trees in response to drought and heat stress;
- Cavitation vulnerability and xylem adaptation under extreme climatic conditions;
- Water use strategies and stomatal regulation in response to change in water availability;
- Wood formation and carbon allocation trade-offs under hydraulic stress;
- Use of stable isotopes in plant matrices to trace water sources and assess tree water use efficiency;
- Remote sensing and modelling approaches to monitor hydraulic stress and forest dieback;
- Management practices to enhance hydraulic resilience and mitigate the impacts of climate extremes.
We look forward to receiving contributions that will help to improve our understanding of how forests adapt or fail in response to the challenges of climate change.
Dr. Simona Altieri
Dr. Francesco Niccoli
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
- forest resilience
- hydraulic stress
- water-use efficiency
- tree physiological adaptation
- climate extremes
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