Novel and Urban Forests: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 2838

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Departamento de Botânica (BOT), Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
Interests: urban and novel forests; mountain vegetation; plant ecology; species diversity; conservation biodiversity; landscape ecology

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Guest Editor
College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Interests: plant physiology; biochemistry; molecular biology; stress responses; functional genomics; gene regulation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ecological concept of “Novel Forests” (Novel Ecosystems) gained popularity in the early years of this millennium, still being controversial and lacking in research. By definition, a novel forest possesses a set of peculiar characteristics, such as exceeding ecological thresholds that guide it towards new ecosystem processes; differences in composition, structure, and functioning compared to a reference ecosystem; a strong presence and dominance of exotic/invasive species; and being able to persist and self-organize naturally. Studies have already shown that forests in urban environments are potential novel forests. This is because the conversion of the natural landscape into urban areas tends to be severe, leading the remaining small forests to be subjected to multiple and constant stressors. Novel forests are a reality in fragmented forest landscapes, in an era (Anthropocene) where they cannot be ignored but should rather be studied and understood.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to explore advances in research related to novel and urban forests, focusing on aspects involving their ecology, biodiversity, and conservation. Specifically, contributions should concentrate on one or more of the following aspects:

- Functional and phylogenetic aspects of novel and urban forests;
- Dynamics and functioning of novel and urban forests;
- The significance of novel and urban forests for biodiversity conservation;
- Ecosystem services provided by novel and urban forests;
- Robust and comprehensive inventories of biodiversity and functional attributes in novel and urban forests;
- Novel and urban forests in the context of climate change;
- Novel and urban forests in the context of environmental governance policies.

Prof. Dr. Fabrício Alvim Carvalho
Prof. Dr. Liming Yang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • novel forests
  • novel ecosystems
  • urban forests
  • urban ecosystems
  • urban forestry
  • ecosystem services
  • forest dynamics
  • functional ecology
  • climate change

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 6376 KiB  
Article
With Great Ecosystem Services Comes Great Responsibility: Benefits Provided by Urban Vegetation in Brazilian Cities
by Helder Marcos Nunes Candido, Theodore A. Endreny and Fabrício Alvim Carvalho
Plants 2025, 14(3), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030392 - 28 Jan 2025
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Abstract
Ecosystem services (ESs) are extremely important, specifically in urban areas. Urban forests, even representing a pivotal role in global sustainability, have been converted into different human-modified landscapes. This paper aims to analyze the ES provided by the urban areas of 25 cities of [...] Read more.
Ecosystem services (ESs) are extremely important, specifically in urban areas. Urban forests, even representing a pivotal role in global sustainability, have been converted into different human-modified landscapes. This paper aims to analyze the ES provided by the urban areas of 25 cities of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We used i-Tree Canopy v.7.1 to classify the land use. We quantified the monetary benefits of the urban vegetation and used socioeconomic variables (i.e., total population, population density, Human Development Index (HDI), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita) to analyze if the ecosystem services or the land uses are associated with this. Our data reveal that together, the cities studied sequester a significant total of 235.3 kilotonnes of carbon and a substantial 864.82 kilotonnes of CO2 Equivalent (CO2 Equiv.) annually. Furthermore, together, they also store a total of 4861.19 kilotonnes of carbon and 17,824.32 kilotonnes of CO2 Equiv. We found out that the average monetary estimate of annual carbon sequestration was USD 3.57 million, while the average stored estimate was USD 73.76 million. Spearman’s correlogram showed a strong positive correlation between density and the percentage of impervious cover non-plantable no trees (IN) in urban areas (p < 0.001). IN was also positively correlated with HDI (p = 0.01), indicating that urban areas with higher HDI tend to have larger impervious areas. Our data suggest essential insights about the ecosystem services provided by urban areas and can serve as significant findings to drive policymakers’ attention to whether they want to provide more ecosystem services in cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel and Urban Forests: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation)
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Review

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23 pages, 3167 KiB  
Review
Harnessing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning for Sustainable Forestry Management and Conservation: Transformative Potential and Future Perspectives
by Taojing Wang, Yinyue Zuo, Teja Manda, Delight Hwarari and Liming Yang
Plants 2025, 14(7), 998; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14070998 - 22 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1522
Abstract
Plants serve as the basis for ecosystems and provide a wide range of essential ecological, environmental, and economic benefits. However, forest plants and other forest systems are constantly threatened by degradation and extinction, mainly due to misuse and exhaustion. Therefore, sustainable forest management [...] Read more.
Plants serve as the basis for ecosystems and provide a wide range of essential ecological, environmental, and economic benefits. However, forest plants and other forest systems are constantly threatened by degradation and extinction, mainly due to misuse and exhaustion. Therefore, sustainable forest management (SFM) is paramount, especially in the wake of global climate change and other challenges. SFM ensures the continued provision of plants and forests to both the present and future generations. In practice, SFM faces challenges in balancing the use and conservation of forests. This review discusses the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning (DL) technologies in sustainable forest management. It summarizes current research and technological improvements implemented in sustainable forest management using AI, discussing their applications, such as predictive analytics and modeling techniques that enable accurate forecasting of forest dynamics in carbon sequestration, species distribution, and ecosystem conditions. Additionally, it explores how AI-powered decision support systems facilitate forest adaptive management strategies by integrating real-time data in the form of images or videos. The review manuscript also highlights limitations incurred by AI, ML, and DL in combating challenges in sustainable forest management, providing acceptable solutions to these problems. It concludes by providing future perspectives and the immense potential of AI, ML, and DL in modernizing SFM. Nonetheless, a great deal of research has already shed much light on this topic, this review bridges the knowledge gap. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel and Urban Forests: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation)
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