Plant Effects on Soil Carbon Stabilization in Forests: Patterns, Processes and Mechanisms
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 February 2023) | Viewed by 19504
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil carbon stabilization; plant–soil interaction; rhizosphere priming
Interests: root exudates and SOM dynamics; plant–microbe–soil interactions; plant functional traits and ecosystem processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forest soils play important roles in the maintenance of ecosystem goods and services, biodiversity conservation, the mitigation of global climate change, and adaptation, mainly due to being the largest form of soil carbon (and nitrogen) storage. The important role of plant effects in soil carbon formation, decomposition and stabilization is becoming increasingly recognized by the scientific community. Scientists have devoted significant attention to these soil carbon processes over the last few decades. However, many critical questions remain to be addressed, e.g., the extent to which a plant and/or plant community affects soil carbon stabilization and destabilization at individual, plot, regional and landscape scales; the relative contribution of plant carbon input aboveground versus belowground to soil carbon decomposition versus formation; and the relative importance of potential influences related to plant species, communities, soil properties, climate conditions and microbe-derived variables and their responses to management activities. We thus explore the processes, patterns, and mechanisms of plant effects on soil carbon stabilization in forest ecosystems under human disturbance, including but not limited to the following items: carbon decomposition, destabilization, formation, stabilization, and the interactions with biological and/or abiotic factors such as plant diversity, carbon input, aggregation, etc. Plant effects on other processes (e.g., nutrient cycling) are also of interest. We encourage studies from all fields, including experimental studies, reviews, and models, to contribute to this Special Issue in order to promote knowledge and adaptation strategies for forest soil conservation, management, and future development.
Dr. Liming Yin
Dr. Peng Wang
Dr. Maire Holz
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- soil carbon stabilization
- plant community composition
- soil biota
- soil physical protection
- litter decomposition
- aboveground–belowground interactions
- forest management
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