Assessing Habitat Risk from Ecosystem Service Impacts Driven by Land Use and Landscape Pattern Changes

Dear Colleagues,

Land use and landscape pattern changes have increasingly reshaped ecological processes and disrupted the provision of ecosystem services across spatial and temporal scales. As ecosystems are transformed by agricultural expansion, urban development, deforestation, and fragmentation, the resulting shifts in ecosystem services pose significant risks to habitat quality, stability, and long-term sustainability. However, the complex interactions among landscape changes, service alterations, and habitat responses remain insufficiently understood. In particular, knowledge about the habitat risks emerging from these changes is still limited.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect original research and review articles that provide insights into how changes in land use and landscape configuration influence ecosystem services and, in turn, generate or exacerbate habitat risk. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches that integrate ecological modeling, spatial analysis, landscape ecology, conservation science, and policy evaluation.

This Special Issue invites manuscripts addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Quantifying habitat risk under diverse land use and landscape change scenarios;
• Linking ecosystem service degradation to habitat vulnerability and loss;
• Integrating remote sensing and geospatial analytics for habitat risk mapping and assessment;
• Exploring thresholds or tipping points in land use change impacts on ecosystem services;
• Assessing trade-offs and synergies among development, ecosystem service provision, and habitat quality;
• Scenario analysis, simulation, or decision-support tools for habitat protection;
• Policy, planning, and governance strategies for mitigating habitat risk;
• Case studies from diverse ecological or socio-political contexts.

Both empirical studies and theoretical or methodological innovations are welcome. We encourage submissions that explore the above themes at global, regional, or local scales. We look forward to your submissions and to working together to advance our understanding of the critical links among land use and landscape dynamics, ecosystem services, and habitat risk.

Dr. Xiaolin Zhang
Dr. Weiwei Zheng
Dr. Marta Gallardo
Dr. Bo Han
Dr. Xiaojuan Liu
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. Land 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.