Special Issue "Forest Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability – Series II"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Petros Ganatsas
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Silviculture, Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Faculty of Geotechnical Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: biodiversity; forest ecology; forest conservation; silvicultural systems; ecosystem ecology; forest habitats; sustainable management of forest ecosystems
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests demonstrate a high degree of biodiversity, being thought to comprise the most diverse ecosystems on land, as most of the terrestrial species in the world dwell there. Forest biodiversity is interlinked to a web of other socio-economic factors, providing an array of goods and services that range from timber and non-timber forest resources to mitigating climate change and conservation of genetic resources; therefore, it is innately linked to ecosystem and human well-being. However, forest biodiversity decrease is a crucial and ongoing environmental issue last decades.

This Special Issue on Forest Biodiversity (FB), which is the continuing issue of the former Special Issue, Forest Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability, will include emerging issues for understanding FB and its conservation, such as ecological processes, disturbances, climate change and ecosystems resilience, structural complexity and ecosystem functions, ecological theories and silvicultural practices, and stability of FB. It will also include papers that focus on the indicators and methods for assessing and monitoring forest biodiversity, evaluation of practices, silvicultural treatments and management methods aiming at biodiversity conservation, conservation of forest biodiversity in protected areas, treatments of endangered or threaten forest habitats, and sustainable management of forest resources.

Prof. Dr. Petros Ganatsas
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • Ecological processes and forest biodiversity 
  • Forest biodiversity, climate change and ecosystems resilience 
  • Indicators and methods for assessing and monitoring forest biodiversity 
  • Ecological theories and silvicultural practices 
  • Silvicultural treatments aiming at biodiversity conservation 
  • Methods for conservation of forest biodiversity in protected areas 
  • Structural complexity and ecosystem functions 
  • Treatments of endangered or threaten forest habitats 
  • Sustainable management of forest resources 
  • Conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Forest Structure and Composition under Contrasting Precipitation Regimes in the High Mountains, Western Nepal
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7510; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137510 - 05 Jul 2021
Viewed by 1039
Abstract
The high mountains stretch over 20.4% of Nepal’s land surface with diverse climatic conditions and associated vegetation types. An understanding of tree species and forest structural pattern variations across different climatic regions is crucial for mountain ecology. This study strived to carry out [...] Read more.
The high mountains stretch over 20.4% of Nepal’s land surface with diverse climatic conditions and associated vegetation types. An understanding of tree species and forest structural pattern variations across different climatic regions is crucial for mountain ecology. This study strived to carry out a comparative evaluation of species diversity, main stand variables, and canopy cover of forests with contrasting precipitation conditions in the Annapurna range. Firstly, climate data provided by CHELSA version 1.2, were used to identify distinct precipitation regimes. Lamjung and Mustang were selected as two contrasting precipitation regions, and have average annual precipitation of 2965 mm and 723 mm, respectively. Stratified random sampling was used to study 16 plots, each measuring 500 m2 and near the tree line at an elevation range of 3000 to 4000 m across different precipitation conditions. In total, 870 trees were identified and measured. Five hemispherical photos using a fisheye lens were taken in each plot for recording and analyzing canopy cover. Margalef’s index was used to measure species richness, while two diversity indices: the Shannon–Wiener Index and Simpson Index were used for species diversity. Dominant tree species in both study regions were identified through the Important Value Index (IVI). The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was employed to determine the differences in forest structure and composition variables between the two precipitation regimes. In total, 13 species were recorded with broadleaved species predominating in the high precipitation region and coniferous species in the low precipitation region. Higher species richness and species diversity were recorded in the low precipitation region, whereas the main stand variables: basal area and stem density were found to be higher in the high precipitation region. Overall, an inverse J-shaped diameter distribution was found in both precipitation regions signifying uneven-aged forest. A higher proportion of leaning and buttressed trees were recorded in the high precipitation region. However, similar forest canopy cover conditions (>90%) were observed in both study regions. The findings of this research provide a comprehensive narrative of tree species and forest structure across distinct precipitation regimes, which can be crucial to administrators and local people for the sustainable management of resources in this complex region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability – Series II)
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Article
Topographic Effects on the Spatial Species Associations in Diverse Heterogeneous Tropical Evergreen Forests
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2468; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052468 - 25 Feb 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 495
Abstract
Studying spatial patterns and habitat association of plant communities may provide understanding of the ecological mechanisms and processes that maintain species coexistence. To conduct assessments of correlation between community compositions and habitat association, we used data from two topographically different plots with 2 [...] Read more.
Studying spatial patterns and habitat association of plant communities may provide understanding of the ecological mechanisms and processes that maintain species coexistence. To conduct assessments of correlation between community compositions and habitat association, we used data from two topographically different plots with 2 ha area in tropical evergreen forests with the variables recorded via grid systems of 10 × 10 m subplots in Northern-Central Vietnam. First, we tested the relationship between community composition and species diversity indices considering the topographical variables. We then assessed the interspecific interactions of 20 dominant plant species using the nearest-neighbor distribution function, Dij(r), and Ripley’s K-function, Kij(r). Based on the significant spatial association of species pairs, indices of interspecific interaction were calculated by the quantitative amounts of the summary statistics. The results showed that (i) community compositions were significantly influenced by the topographic variables and (ii) almost 50% significant pairs of species interactions were increased with increasing spatial scales up to 10–15 m, then declined and disappeared at scales of 30–40 m. Segregation and partial overlap were the dominant association types and disappeared at larger spatial scales. Spatial segregation, mixing, and partial overlap revealed the important species interactions in maintaining species coexistence under habitat heterogeneity in diverse forest communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability – Series II)
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Article
Quantifying the Effect of Crown Vertical Position on Individual Tree Competition: Total Overlap Index and Its Application in Sustainable Forest Management
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7498; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187498 - 11 Sep 2020
Viewed by 493
Abstract
Competition is an essential driving factor that influences forest community sustainability, yet measuring it poses several challenges. To date, the Competition Index (CI) has generally been the tool of choice for quantifying actual competition. In this study, we proposed using the Total Overlap [...] Read more.
Competition is an essential driving factor that influences forest community sustainability, yet measuring it poses several challenges. To date, the Competition Index (CI) has generally been the tool of choice for quantifying actual competition. In this study, we proposed using the Total Overlap Index (TOI), a CI in which the Area Overlap (AO) index has been adapted and modified to consider the “shading” and “crowding” effects in the vertical dimension. Next, based on six mixed forest plots in Xiaolong Mountain, Gansu, China, we assessed the results to determine the TOI’s evaluation capability. Individual-tree simulation results showed that compared to the modified Area Overlap index (AOM), the TOI has superior quantification capability in the vertical direction. The results of the basal area increment (BAI) model showed that the TOI offers the best evaluation capability among the four considered CIs in mixed forest (with Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) of 1041.60 and log-likelihood (LL) of −511.80 in the model fitting test, mean relative error of −28.67%, mean absolute percent error of 117.11%, and root mean square error of 0.7993 in cross-validation). Finally, the TOI was applied in the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional-hazards analysis. The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed a significant difference between the low- (consisting of trees with the TOI lower than 1) and high-competition (consisting of trees with the TOI higher than 1) groups’ survival and hazard curves. Moreover, the results of the Cox proportional-hazards analysis exhibited that the trees in the low-competition group only suffered 34.29% of the hazard risk that trees in the high-competition group suffered. Overall, the TOI expresses more dimensional information than other CIs and appears to be an effective competition index for evaluating individual tree competition. Thus, the competition status quantified using this method may provide new information to guide policy- and decision-makers in sustainable forest management planning projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability – Series II)
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