Forest Dynamics and Resilience: Monitoring, Assessment and Early Warning Under Global Change

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 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.