Tree Hybridization, Evolution and Sustainable Forestry Development

Dear Colleagues,

Developments in molecular biology during the past three decades, especially in molecular genetics, have provided new tools to study the significance of interspecific hybridization in plant and animal kingdoms.

In the past, interspecific hybridization has been regarded as an evolutionary noise, which has little impact on the sustainability of forest ecosystems. This was because earlier inferences about its significance were limited to studies of quantitative characters, which are affected by environment, and therefore cannot yield unambiguous information about the true identity of the interspecific hybrids.

Using these new developments, it has become possible to demonstrate that interspecific hybridization can play a profound role in the evolution and adaptation of tree species and the sustainability of forest ecosystems. Among others, it can affect adaptation of the existing species as well as the rise of new uniquely adapted ones, able of conquering new habitats. Apart from being a driving force in the evolution and adaptation it can also play a negative role such as causing extinction of native species.

It has therefore become imperative to promote studies devoted to unraveling evolutionary and ecological consequences of interspecific hybridization in forest trees.

This Special Issue is meant to provide new findings relevant to the issues described above.

Prof. Alfred Edward Szmidt
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 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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.