Water and Gas Exchanges in Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Forests cover ca. 30% of land area around the world, making them great water and gas exchangers, both as sinks or sources. Consequently, the study of these fluxes is of paramount importance at global scale, especially when the rise in atmospheric carbon concentration detected during the last decades is considered. On the one hand, a higher CO₂ concentration would have an impact on the energy balance of the Earth, increasing the temperature and water losses by evapotranspiration in many areas. On the other hand, a higher availability of atmospheric CO₂ should have a short-term positive influence on the overall carbon fixation by trees, although the long-term response to this phenomenon is still a matter of discussion. Thus, water use efficiency, i.e., the ratio between the net CO₂ assimilation and water losses by transpiration of forest habitats may change due to the new environmental conditions associated to the global climatic change. In this context, updating the state of knowledge about environmental factors influencing tree performance in terms of photosynthesis, transpiration and their balance will be welcome in this Special Issue. Specifically, new approaches at different scales on water and carbon movement from the plant to the atmosphere and vice versa (e.g., plant hydraulics, stomatal and mesophyll conductance adjustments, whole canopy fluxes, volatile compounds emission, respiration, photosynthesis) may be valuable contributions to this Special Issue

Dr. José Javier Peguero-Pina
Dr. Eustaquio Gil-Pelegrín
Guest Editors

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