Soil Nutrient Dynamics and Elevational Variability: Plant Adaptations and Ecological Implications
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 44
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil stoichiometry; forest gap; elevation gradients; seedling regeneration; functional traits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: elevational gradient; community assembly; biodiversity–ecosystem functioning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: restoration ecology; vegetation ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Over the course of evolution, plants have developed a variety of internal physiological and external morphological adaptations to interact with their environment and minimize its adverse effects. Understanding how plants respond and adapt to environmental conditions is crucial for predicting the potential risks of climate change and informing plant conservation strategies. In forests, both soil and terrain play a significant role in influencing plant survival and reproduction. The nutrient content of the soil directly impacts the growth and population structure of plants. Key elements like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which are essential for plant development, are critical indicators of the soil nutrient supply, and their stoichiometric ratios offer important insights into nutrient availability. Elevation, as a comprehensive environmental factor, influences plant physiological and ecological characteristics by creating environmental heterogeneity—such as variations in temperature, water availability, and soil nutrients. This, in turn, affects the functional traits, species distribution, and community biodiversity of plants. As research on soil stoichiometry and elevation gradients advances, understanding how plants adapt to these factors has become a central issue. This Special Issue will focus on studies related to plant responses and adaptations to soil stoichiometry and elevation gradients and will highlight the responses of plant functional traits, population structures, and ecosystem functions to changes in soil physicochemical properties and elevation gradients.
Dr. Zhongsheng He
Dr. Yahuang Luo
Prof. Dr. Yi Ding
Guest Editors
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 2700 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
- soil nutrients
- elevation gradients
- functional traits
- community structure
- biodiversity
- ecosystem function
- environmental factors
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