Ecological Services from Trees outside Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services may be local, regional, or global in scale. Ecosystem services forest in the global, regional, and national scale have been widely studied in recent years. Our world has billions of trees that are not included in the FRA 2000 (the Global Forest Assessment compiled by Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations) definitions of “forest” and “wooded land”. Trees outside the forest (TOF) include trees in cities, on farms, along roads, inside the homestead, and in many other locations which are not officially included as a forest. All trees provide a bountiful ecosystem service to human society, such as food, clean water, timber, climate and disease regulation, nutrient cycling, and even educational and recreational value. Climate change, coupled with other stressors, such as urban sprawl and natural disasters, is affecting the quality and quantity of ecosystem services to the public. Understanding the factors that are threatening the ecosystem services of TOF will help to provide an effective conservation strategy of trees.

This Special Issue of Forests is focused on the ecosystem services provided by trees outside the forest, which are always in a small scale, and maybe fragmented, and conservation schemes of TOF to ensure the quantity and quality of ecosystem services to meet the public’s needs. The editors welcome research articles regarding trees which are usually not defined as a forest in FRA or in national laws, including farm windbreak, agroforestry, home gardens, homestead windbreak, sacred forests, etc. Articles may deal with the transformation of ecosystem services provided by TOF, and the factors contribute to the changes of ecosystem services. Editors encourage colleagues to discuss a strategy scheme of tree conservation, maybe traditional regulations, local locals, and even newly emerged regional or national initiatives. Research from a wide range of countries is welcomed.

Dr. Bixia Chen
Prof. Dr. Yaoqi Zhang
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.