Dear Colleagues,

Alpine ecosystems, roughly covering 11 million km² or 8% of the terrestrial surface globally, are of great global significance for environment conservation, climate change and pastorial livelihoods. However, alpine ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes and transformations in their biodiversity and functioning due to global climate change and human activities, regionally and globally. Here, we invite researchers to contribute original research papers, review articles and short communications to our Special Issue in Sustainability. This Special Issue will focus on the biodiversity and ecosystem processes and functions of alpine ecosystems and their responses to global changes and human activities. Observational, experimental and modeling studies are welcomed.

Topics of the desired scientific articles include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Patterns of plant, animal, nematode and microorganism diversity in alpine ecosystems and their main drivers;
2. Biological traits (e.g., plant phenology and physiological properties) and ecosystem processes (e.g., soil element cycling, microbial processes) and their functions in alpine ecosystems;
3. Effects of climate change on biodiversity patterns and ecosystem processes of alpine ecosystems;
4. Effects of human activity on biodiversity patterns and ecosystem processes of alpine ecosystems;
5. The plant–microorganism interactions in alpine ecosystems;
6. The ecosystem degradation of alpine ecosystems and its effects on ecosystem biodiversity and processes;
7. The effect of biodiversity on the restoration of degraded alpine ecosystems.

Prof. Dr. Shiping Wang
Dr. Tsechoe Dorji
Dr. Yaoming Li
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• biodiversity and its function
• climate change
• human activity
• alpine ecosystems