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Special Issue "Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production"

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2022.

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marianthi Tsakaldimi
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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: Reforestation; Ecological restoration; Climate change and forest ecosystems resilience; Innovative methods for tree establishment in dry environment; Forest reproductive material; Silviculture

Prof. Vladan Ivetic
E-Mail Website

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: Biodiversity; Sustainable Development; Conservation; Spatial Analysis; Genetics; Climate Change; Plant Physiology; Plant Biology; Plant Biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The role of forests in mitigation of climate change is underutilized. Increase of forests and forest adaptive management could be sustainably intensified to sequester a large amount of carbon on forests. More than two billion hectares of degraded areas worldwide need restoration. Last decades, increasingly global change and human-induced disturbances raise the public sense for accelerating reforestation programs, although consensus is lacking on which techniques to use and what objectives to pursue.Thus, there is an urgent need to broaden the knowledge and the experience on climate adaptive forest restoration and reforestation issues.

This Special Issue on climate adaptive reforestation and forest restoration will include emerging issues for understanding the meaning of climate adaptive forest restoration and reforestation topics, such as restoration and reforestation sound and update goals, promotion the need and the mean for successful restoration and reforestation projects, new knowledge on plant adaptation mechanisms on climate changes. It will also include papers focus on appropriate plant species selection for each site conditions, innovative techniques for tree material production in the nurseries, quality control of targeted forest reproductive material, advanced establishment techniques, post-planting treatments, and silviculture of aforested areas.

Dr. Marianthi Tsakaldimi
Prof. Vladan Ivetic
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 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

Forest establishment
Innovative methods for tree establishment in dry environments
Forest reproductive material
Climate-smart plant production practices
Seed transfer
Ecological processes and reforestation
Climate change and forest ecosystems resilience
The role of tree planting in climate change mitigation
Plantation silviculture
Structural complexity and new forests functions
Indicators and methods for assessing and monitoring reforestation success
Treatments for ecological restoration of threaten forest habitats
Conservation and sustainability of reforested areas

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Freezing and Heating Tolerance of Pinus nigra Seedlings from Three South to North Balkan Provenances

Vladan Ivetić

Marianthi Tsakaldimi

Petros Ganatsas

Ivona Kerkez Janković

and

Jovana Devetaković

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9290; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169290 - 18 Aug 2021

Viewed by 256

Abstract

To meet the restoration and reforestation goals in the changing environment, the translocation of genotypes and species northward and upward need to be considered to a great extent. Pinus nigra is a genetically diverse, drought sensitive species, with cold hardiness comparable to other tree species under the same climatic conditions. This study tested frost hardiness (whole plant freezing test—WPFT, and electric conductivity—EC test), and heat tolerance (heat tolerance test) of P. nigra seedlings from two southern Greek provenances (Kalamata and Grevena) and one northern Serbian provenance (Šargan) to better understand the potential of seed transfer from the south to the north of the species distribution in the Balkan peninsula. The results showed that, that for all studied provenances, the damage was great; the index of injury (Ii) at −18 °C was ranged from 49 to 54.5 (measured by the EC method) and the percentage of injured tissues ranged from 80–90% (measured by visual observation). For all studied provenances, a sharp increase in damages was observed with the fall of temperature from −5 and −18 °C and the time after exposure. The WPFT results showed that the highest tolerance to freezing (−18 °C) was presented by seedlings from the northern (Šargan) provenance; however, no significant differences were statistically detected among the studied provenances. The heat and drought-treated seedlings, from both provenances, presented significantly highler foliar damages than only drought-treated ones. For seedlings from both contrasting provenances (Grevena and Šargan), exposure to moderate heat (45 °C) and short drought did present damages but without significant difference between them. Considering freezing and heating tolerance, Greek provenances of P. nigra (i.e., Grevena region) can be successfully used in Serbian forestation and restoration programs. The present study makes a contribution towards P. nigra reforestation with practical implications for abiotic stress (frost, heat drought) tolerance among southern and northern provenances and could be valuable to determine the suitable provenances for reforestation programs and assisted population migration under climatic change scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Anthropic Effects on the Biodiversity of the Habitats of Ferula gummosa

Parviz Moradi

Farhad Aghajanloo

Ahmad Moosavi

Hossein Hosseini Monfared

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7874; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147874 - 14 Jul 2021

Viewed by 471

Abstract

The uncontrolled exploitation of soil and plants by people has generated important ecological imbalances all over the world. This manuscript focuses its attention on the ecosystem of Ferula gummosa (FG). FG belongs to the Apiaceae family and has a vast distribution from central Asia to South Africa, as well as northwest Iran, including the Zanjan Province. This plant has diverse applications across industrial, forage and medicinal fields. To investigate the effective factors on the FG distribution, four main natural habitats were selected based on field visits and a literature review. Then, environmental factors, such as climate features, topography conditions, and soil characteristics, were collected and analysed. According to the results, the slope is mainly north-northeast with a slope of 55 to 70 degrees, and an elevation range above 2200 m is suitable for the growth of FG in the Zanjan Province. The main companion plants were Silene bupleuroides L. and Thymus kotschyanus. The results show that in the habitats where FG grew, the soil was mostly shallow, sometimes semi-deep and consisting mainly of loam, loamy sand, loamy clay and mostly clay loam with very low salinity (less than 0.7 dS/m), and was in the neutral range of soil acidity (6.9 to 7.33). Soil organic carbon was relatively high, but the amount of nutrients, such as phosphorus and potassium, was less than optimal in these soils. Next, using a Geographic Information System (GIS), maps of homogeneous areas for possible FG establishment across the province were created. In conclusion, the main factors affecting the FG distribution in the Zanjan Province were land use conversion, harvesting fodder and grazing livestock, improper exploitation of rangelands, pests and diseases of Ferula gummosa in the region. The ecological data collected on FG may be useful to understand how human action can affect the existence and extinction of many plant species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Effect of Seedling Provenance and Site Heterogeneity on Abies cephalonica Performance in a Post-Fire Environment

Kostas Ioannidis

Marianthi Tsakaldimi

Katerina Koutsovoulou

Evangelia N. Daskalakou

and

Petros Ganatsas

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6097; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116097 - 28 May 2021

Viewed by 581

Abstract

Reforestation constitutes a challenge in post-fire ecosystem restoration, although there are limitations such as species and genotype selection, planting and management design, and environmental conditions. In the present study, the basic issue is the longevity of Abies cephalonica Loudon—the Greek fir seedlings planted extensively in Parnitha National Park (Central Greece), located near the metropolitan city of Athens, following the large-scale wildfire of 2007. Seedling performance was assessed for a 3-year monitoring period (2013–2015) through the establishment of 8 permanent transects, including 400 seedlings at the burned, reforested sites. According to the long-term reforestation project, two seedling provenances were used: (a) from Mt. Mainalon (South Greece, Vytina provenance) and (b) the local one from Mt. Parnitha. Both provenances showed a relatively successful survival rate reaching, in average, 73.8%, with the first summer after planting being crucial for seedling survival. The overall mean seedling height was 39.2 ± 1.1 cm, with a mean crown diameter of 47.3 ± 1.4 cm in the last monitoring survey. Although Parnitha seedlings seem to perform better in terms of growth, seedling performance in both provenances was affected by reforestation site characteristics, mainly altitude and aspect. Approximately one third of seedlings exhibited damage in their crown architecture (29.8%), while apical bud damage was less extensive (12.2%) in the final field measurement. Data indicate that seedling performance has proved to be quite promising for post-fire restoration, although long-term monitoring data should be considered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Fertilization and Shading Trials to Promote Pinus nigra Seedlings’ Nursery Growth under the Climate Change Demands

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3563; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063563 - 23 Mar 2021

Viewed by 476

Abstract

Pinus nigra is one of the most widely used tree species for reforestation within its geographical distribution, as well as being a potential substitute for other tree species in Central Europe under future climate scenarios. P. nigra is transplanted into the field as two-year or three-year old seedlings because of its relatively low growth rate in the nursery. This study investigated the effects of fertilization programs and shading on P. nigra seedlings, aiming to accelerate early growth, and thus to reduce the nursery rearing time. The experiment (a completely randomized block design) was conducted in an open-air nursery by sowing seeds from Grevena, Northern Greece, in Quick pots filled with peat and perlite in a 2:1 ratio. The seedlings were subjected to two levels of fertilization—5 and 10 g L⁻¹ NPK (30-10-10)—and two shading levels: 50% and 70%. At the ends of the first and second nursery growing season, we recorded the seedlings’ above- and below-ground morphology and biomass data. The results show that the application of all of the treatments produced seedlings which met the targeted quality standards for outplanting. However, the combination of a high fertilization rate and low shading level resulted in seedlings of a higher morphological quality, which is often considered to be an indicator for a successful seedling establishment in the field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Effect of High Concentrations of Wood Ash on Soil Properties and Development of Young Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

and

Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9479; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229479 - 14 Nov 2020

Viewed by 466

Abstract

Wood ash recycling can be a reasonable method for energy producers to decrease waste problems. Using wood ash as a fertilizer or liming material could improve soil macro and micronutrient content in peat soils. Therefore, the effect of wood ash on Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) juvenile growth and nutrient content in the soil after spreading wood ash in medium to high doses before and after planting seedlings was investigated in peat forests in the Eastern part of Latvia. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of high doses of wood ash on soil properties and the growth of planted Norway spruce and Scots pine seedlings up to 10 years after experiment establishment. Wood ash was applied a year before planting seedlings in doses of 5 and 10 t ha⁻¹ and right after planting in concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 t ha⁻¹. Changes in macronutrient content (i.e., phosphorus [P], and potassium [K]) and tree height and diameter at breast height were measured at one and 10 years after establishing the experiment. Fertilization one year prior to planting the seedlings exhibited a positive response on tree height and diameter growth compared to fertilization after the seedlings were planted. Soil samples from fertilized plots one year after establishment contained more P and K in the soil than the control plots. Wood ash application of the highest doses did not reach the overdose limit, as the tree growth (height and diameter at breast height) results of fertilized plots were similar to those of the control fields; therefore, no significant negative effect on tree growth was discovered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Growth of Fagus sylvatica L. and Picea abies (L.) Karst. Seedlings Grown in Hiko Containers in the First Year after Planting

and

Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 7155; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177155 - 02 Sep 2020

Viewed by 532

Abstract

In forest management in Poland, there are no standards for the quality and suitability for planting seedlings produced in nursery containers; therefore, research contributing to the development of such guidelines is important. We investigated the growth reaction of European beech and Norway spruce seedlings growing in container technology one year after planting on an experimental forest plantation. The seedlings used in the study were three experimental variants grown in a container nursery differing in fertilization. Two heights of seedlings were measured, i.e., after the first growing season on the experimental plantation and the initial (obtained in the forest nursery), and the annual (AHI, cm) and relative height increments (RHI, %) were calculated. The regression of the RHI of seedlings to their initial height was calculated, and the equations obtained were used to determine the optimal range of seedling height at the stage of nursery growth at which they will achieve the maximum increment in the first year of growth on the plantation. The change from foliar fertilization to a mixed one affected beech and spruce seedling parameters; however, it did not affect the diversity of their survival on the experimental plantation. Higher seedlings planted on the experimental plantation were characterized by a smaller RHI. The optimal range for the height of seedlings obtained at the nursery stage of growing, which determined the maximum value of the AHI after the first year of growth after planting, was 18–36 cm for beech and 14–25 cm for spruce. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Genetic Relationships and Reproductive Traits of Romanian Populations of Silver Fir (Abies alba): Implications for the Sustainable Management of Local Populations

Irina Maria Todea Morar

and

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4199; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104199 - 20 May 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 806

Abstract

Assessment of the diversity of reproductive traits and genetic variation is of great relevance to the conservation of genetic resources and management of silver fir (Abies alba) populations. We have evaluated reproductive characteristics associated with female cones and seed morphology, as well as seed germination after subjecting seeds to five storage methods, in nine Romanian populations of A. alba. The genetic diversity of the populations was assessed with 12 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. We detected significant differences between populations for all reproductive traits and considerable differences in seed germination and storage methods; seed storage in wet sand was the method resulting in the highest germination in all populations. Genomic SSRs (gSSRs) were more informative on average than expressed sequence tag SSRs (EST-SSRs) in the populations studied. The nine populations were genetically diverse, with an average number of alleles (N) per SSR locus between 3.50 and 4.83. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) in the nine populations was always lower than the expected heterozygosity (He), which resulted in values of the inbreeding coefficient (Fis) between 0.261 and 0.709. Genetic distances between populations ranged between 0.077 and 0.410. The cluster analysis based on genetic distances did not group accessions according to their geographical proximity, and despite a positive trend, the correlation between geographic and genetic distances was non-significant. The results of an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that only 9.1% of the total molecular variance is attributable to differences between populations. This low degree of genetic differentiation between populations is confirmed by the intermingling of individuals of different populations in a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). We found evidence of a positive relationship between He and germination, as well as a negative one between Fis and germination, suggesting that populations with low diversity and high consanguinity may have a reduced fitness and long-term viability. The results are relevant for the conservation and management of local genetic resources and populations, as well as for reforestation programmes of silver fir. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Adaptive Reforestation and Plant Material Production)

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