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Forests
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Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change
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Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2022) | Viewed by 9397

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Douglas E. Ahl

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Executive Vice President, Research and Information Systems, Slipstream Group, Inc., Madison, WI, USA
Interests: environmental monitoring; energy and climate

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Some 200 hundred years after Willdenouw and Humboldt first suggested that similar climates produce similar vegetation types, we know that climate is a driving factor that affects the functioning of forest ecosystems, and that it took millenia for forests to reach their modern observed state of biogeochemical cycling. Now, as the global climate system changes at a rate previously unobserved, including the appearance of more frequent extreme weather events, a key question is how modern climate change will affect forest ecosystem functioning and structure in the future. Of particular interest for world leaders, policy makers, corporations, and forest managers is how forest ecosystems can be managed so as to sequester as much carbon as possible. There is still much that needs to be understood to reduce the uncertainty of what we think might happen to forests under a changed climate in the future. We encourage studies that advance the understanding of forest ecosystem biogeochemical cycling in its current state, as well as field experiments, monitoring, and modeling studies that examine the potential impacts of future climate change.

Dr. Douglas E. Ahl
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • The carbon cycle
  • Carbon sequestration
  • The water cycle
  • Nutrient allocation and cycling
  • Soils
  • Forest management
  • Disturbance, adaptation, and resilience
  • Atmospheric deposition, and pollution
  • Climate change
  • Extreme weather events

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 3395 KiB  
Article
Effects of Elevated Atmospheric CO2 Concentration on Insect Herbivory and Nutrient Fluxes in a Mature Temperate Forest
by Aradhana J. Roberts, Liam M. Crowley, Jon P. Sadler, Tien T. T. Nguyen, Anna M. Gardner, Scott A. L. Hayward and Daniel B. Metcalfe
Forests 2022, 13(7), 998; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13070998 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2576 | Correction
Abstract
Insect herbivory is one of the most important ecological processes affecting plant–soil feedbacks and overall forest ecosystem health. In this study, we assess how elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) impacts (i) leaf level insect herbivory and (ii) the stand-level herbivore-mediated transfer of [...] Read more.
Insect herbivory is one of the most important ecological processes affecting plant–soil feedbacks and overall forest ecosystem health. In this study, we assess how elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) impacts (i) leaf level insect herbivory and (ii) the stand-level herbivore-mediated transfer of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from the canopy to the ground in a natural mature oak temperate forest community in central England at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research Free Air CO2 Enrichment (BIFoR FACE) site. Recently abscised leaves were collected every two weeks through the growing season in August to December from 2017–2019, with the identification of four dominant species: Quercus robur (pedunculate oak), Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore), Crataegus monogyna (common hawthorn) and Corylus avellana (hazel). The selected leaves were scanned and visually analyzed to quantify the leaf area loss from folivory monthly. Additionally, the herbivore-mediated transfer of C and N fluxes from the dominant tree species Q. robur was calculated from these leaf-level folivory estimates, the total foliar production and the foliar C and N contents. This study finds that the leaf-level herbivory at the BIFoR FACE has not changed significantly across the first 3 years of eCO2 treatment when assessed across all dominant tree species, although we detected significant changes under the eCO2 treatment for individual tree species and years. Despite the lack of any strong leaf-level herbivory response, the estimated stand-level foliar C and N transferred to the ground via herbivory was substantially higher under eCO2, mainly because there was a ~50% increase in the foliar production of Q. robur under eCO2. This result cautions against concluding much from either the presence or absence of leaf-level herbivory responses to any environmental effect, because their actual ecosystem effects are filtered through so many (usually unmeasured) factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change)
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17 pages, 6704 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Six Satellite-Based Terrestrial Latent Heat Flux Products in the Vegetation Dominated Haihe River Basin of North China
by Yufu Li, Xinxin Sui, Yunjun Yao, Haixia Cheng, Lilin Zhang, Lu Wang, Jing Ning, Ke Shang, Junming Yang, Ruiyang Yu, Lu Liu, Xiaozheng Guo and Zijing Xie
Forests 2021, 12(12), 1632; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12121632 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2096
Abstract
In this study, six satellite-based terrestrial latent heat flux (LE) products were evaluated in the vegetation dominated Haihe River basin of North China. These LE products include Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) LE product, FLUXCOM LE product, Penman-Monteith-Leuning V2 (PML_V2) LE product, Global [...] Read more.
In this study, six satellite-based terrestrial latent heat flux (LE) products were evaluated in the vegetation dominated Haihe River basin of North China. These LE products include Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) LE product, FLUXCOM LE product, Penman-Monteith-Leuning V2 (PML_V2) LE product, Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model datasets (GLEAM) LE product, Breathing Earth System Simulator (BESS) LE product, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (MOD16) LE product. Eddy covariance (EC) data collected from six flux tower sites and water balance method derived evapotranspiration (WBET) were used to evaluate these LE products at site and basin scales. The results indicated that all six LE products were able to capture the seasonal cycle of LE in comparison to EC observations. At site scale, GLASS LE product showed the highest coefficients of determination (R2) (0.58, p < 0.01) and lowest root mean square error (RMSE) (28.2 W/m2), followed by FLUXCOM and PML products. At basin scale, the LE estimates from GLASS product provided comparable performance (R2 = 0.79, RMSE = 18.8 mm) against WBET, compared with other LE products. Additionally, there was similar spatiotemporal variability of estimated LE from the six LE products. This study provides a vital basis for choosing LE datasets to assess regional water budget. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change)
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6 pages, 701 KiB  
Communication
Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Protease Activity in Forest Floor of Norway Spruce Stand
by Ladislav Holik, Jiří Volánek and Valerie Vranová
Forests 2021, 12(6), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12060665 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1735
Abstract
Soil proteases are involved in organic matter transformation processes and, thus, influence ecosystem nutrient turnovers. Phytohormones, similarly to proteases, are synthesized and secreted into soil by fungi and microorganisms, and regulate plant rhizosphere activity. The aim of this study was to determine the [...] Read more.
Soil proteases are involved in organic matter transformation processes and, thus, influence ecosystem nutrient turnovers. Phytohormones, similarly to proteases, are synthesized and secreted into soil by fungi and microorganisms, and regulate plant rhizosphere activity. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of auxins, cytokinins, ethephon, and chlorocholine chloride on spruce forest floor protease activity. It was concluded that the presence of auxins stimulated native proteolytic activity, specifically synthetic auxin 2-naphthoxyacetic acid (16% increase at added quantity of 5 μg) and naturally occurring indole-3-acetic acid (18%, 5 μg). On the contrary, cytokinins, ethephon and chlorocholine chloride inhibited native soil protease activity, where ethephon (36% decrease at 50 μg) and chlorocholine chloride (34%, 100 μg) showed the highest inhibitory effects. It was concluded that negative phytohormonal effects on native proteolytic activity may slow down organic matter decomposition rates and hence complicate plant nutrition. The study enhances the understanding of rhizosphere exudate effects on soil microbial activity and soil nitrogen cycle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change)
19 pages, 2788 KiB  
Article
Linking Soil Acidity to P Fractions and Exchangeable Base Cations under Increased N and P Fertilization of Mono and Mixed Plantations in Northeast China
by Nowsherwan Zarif, Attaullah Khan and Qingcheng Wang
Forests 2020, 11(12), 1274; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121274 - 28 Nov 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2380
Abstract
Atmospheric N deposition is increasing worldwide, especially in China, significantly affecting soil health, i.e., increasing soil acidification. The northern region of China is considered to be one of the N deposition points in Asia, ranging from 28.5 to 100.4 N ha−1yr [...] Read more.
Atmospheric N deposition is increasing worldwide, especially in China, significantly affecting soil health, i.e., increasing soil acidification. The northern region of China is considered to be one of the N deposition points in Asia, ranging from 28.5 to 100.4 N ha−1yr−1. Phosphorus (P) is the limiting factor in the temperate ecosystem and an important factor that makes the ecosystem more susceptible to N-derived acidification. However, it remained poorly understood how the soil acidification process affects soil P availability and base cations in the temperate region to increased N deposition. To address this question, in May 2019, a factorial experiment was conducted under N and P additions with different plantations in Maoershan Experimental Forest Farm, Northeast China, considering species and fertilization as variables. The effective acidity (EA) increased by N and NP fertilizations but was not significantly affected by P fertilization. Similarly, the pH, base saturation percentage (BS%), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) were decreased under N addition, while the Al:Ca ratio increased, whereas NaHCO3 inorganic phosphorus (Pi) and NaOH organic phosphorus (Po) significantly decreased under N enrichments. However, NaOH Pi increased in N-enriched plots, while H2O Pi and NaHCO3 Pi increased under the P addition. Thus, the results suggest that the availability of N triggers the P dynamics by increasing the P uptake by trees. The decrease in base cations, Ca2+, and Mg2+ and increase in exchangeable Fe3+ and Al3+ ions are mainly responsible for soil acidification and lead to the depletion of soil nutrients, which, ultimately, affects the vitality and health of forests, while the P addition showed a buffering effect but could not help to mitigate the soil acidity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Ecosystem Biogeochemical Cycling and Climate Change)
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