Tree Health and Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editors
Interests: microbial ecology; biogeochemical cycling; mycorrhizal fungi; plant pathology; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: microbial ecology; biological control; mycorrhizal fungi; pine wilt disease; forest pathology; forestry diseases; insect associated microorganisms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forests are increasingly challenged by climate change, land-use intensification, biological invasions, and emerging pathogens, which threaten tree health, productivity, and ecosystem stability. Mycorrhizal fungi are key symbiotic partners of many forest tree species, playing fundamental roles in nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease resistance. Understanding the structure, function, and dynamics of mycorrhizal fungal communities is therefore critical for sustaining forest resilience under rapidly changing environmental conditions. This Special Issue brings together interdisciplinary studies that advance our understanding of how mycorrhizal fungi influence tree performance, forest health, and ecosystem processes across diverse biomes. The collected articles explore mycorrhizal diversity, community assembly, and functional traits in relation to host species, soil properties, climate gradients, forest management practices, and disturbance regimes.
A central theme of this Special Issue is the role of mycorrhizal fungi in mediating tree responses to biotic and abiotic stressors, including drought, nutrient limitation, heavy metal contamination, and pathogenic pressure. The studies highlight how shifts in mycorrhizal community composition and functional potential can alter nutrient cycling, carbon allocation, and belowground interactions, ultimately influencing forest health and resilience. In addition, this Special Issue emphasizes the applied relevance of mycorrhizal research for forest management, restoration, and conservation, particularly in the context of climate adaptation and sustainable forestry. Collectively, this Special Issue provides comprehensive advances in mycorrhizal ecology and their implications for tree health. By integrating molecular, physiological, ecological, and management perspectives, the contributions underscore the importance of mycorrhizal fungal communities as integral components of forest ecosystems and as critical drivers of tree health.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Diversity, composition, and biogeography of mycorrhizal fungal communities;
- Functional roles of mycorrhizal fungi in tree nutrition, growth, and carbon allocation;
- Mycorrhizal-mediated responses of trees to abiotic stresses;
- Effects of climate change on mycorrhizal symbioses and forest health;
- Host specificity and co-evolution between trees and mycorrhizal fungi;
- Impacts of forest management, land-use change, and disturbance on mycorrhizal communities;
- Molecular, genomic, and multi-omic approaches to studying mycorrhizal fungi;
- Role of mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient cycling and soil organic matter dynamics;
- Applications of mycorrhizal fungi in forest restoration, conservation, and sustainable forestry.
Dr. Haihua Wang
Dr. Chunyan Wang
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 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.
Keywords
- mycorrhizal fungi
- tree health
- forest ecosystems
- nutrient cycling
- soil-plant-microbe interactions
- climate change
- forest resilience
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