Forest Dynamics and Resilience: Monitoring, Assessment and Early Warning under Global Change
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Inventory, Modeling and Remote Sensing".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1756
Special Issue Editors
Interests: forest ecosystem sensitivity and resilience; vegetation phenology; carbon dynamics
Interests: temperate deciduous forest; tree phenology; shrub phenology; invasive species
Interests: plant/vegetation phenology; bioclimatology; remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: vegetation phenology; carbon cycle of forest ecosystems
Interests: vegetation dynamics under global change; remote sensing application in eco-environment
Interests: plant/land surface phenology; climate change; vegetation dynamic; global change ecology
Interests: vegetation phenology; phenology modeling; climate change
Interests: land surface phenology; tropical forest long-term dynamics; human-climate interactions; satellite data-fusion; time series analysis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to consolidate cutting-edge research on forest dynamics and resilience under multiple interacting global change drivers (e.g., climate change, land use change, biological invasions, pollution, and socioeconomic pressures), emphasizing methodological and applied advances in monitoring, assessment, and operational early warning systems. We prioritize studies that bridge remote sensing (optical, multispectral, radar, LiDAR), long-term in situ observations, sensor networks, ecological modeling, and big data/machine learning approaches to improve the spatiotemporal resolution and reliability of assessments of forest health, structural and functional attributes, and ecosystem services.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: resistance and recovery mechanisms when facing drought, heatwaves, fire, and biotic outbreaks; spatiotemporal dynamics of carbon fluxes and other ecosystem services under changing climate and disturbance regimes; forecasting and uncertainty quantification using process models, statistical approaches, and machine learning; methods for scaling inference from tree to landscape level and for data assimilation; and integration of empirical observation with theoretical frameworks to elucidate mechanisms of resistance, recovery, regime shifts, and tipping points across scales, ranging from tree physiology to landscape and regional dynamics.
Operational early warning systems and actionable indicators are also one of the central focuses: we invite work that develops, validates, and implements indicators or automated monitoring platforms capable of detecting emerging decline or compound disturbances (e.g., drought plus pest outbreaks) and work that translates signals into decision-relevant information for managers and policymakers. Studies linking projections of carbon dynamics and ecosystem service delivery under combined stressors to management or adaptation strategies are especially encouraged.
Dr. Rong Yu
Dr. Alison Donnelly
Dr. Liang Liang
Dr. Jingru Zhang
Dr. Shilong Ren
Dr. Shuai An
Dr. Weiguang Lang
Dr. Yu Shen
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 dynamics
- resilience
- global change
- monitoring
- early warning systems
- remote sensing
- disturbances
- ecological modelling
- adaptive management
- socioecological systems
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