Multi-Scale Assessment of Protection and Restoration Success

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

The "United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration" calls for robust, scalable methodologies to assess restoration and protection outcomes across spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. Moving beyond traditional vegetation-based metrics assessed at single scales, this Topic focuses on advancing multi-scale assessment of protection and restoration success through the integration of innovative statistical modeling, multi-taxa ecological monitoring, and novel upscaling technologies.

We invite studies which

(1) develop or apply innovative statistical models—including linear mixed-effects models (LMM), structural equation modeling (SEM), and Bayesian hierarchical approaches—to build multi-indicator assessment frameworks that address scale-related challenges, such as spatial autocorrelation, nested sampling designs, and cross-scale inference, ultimately bridging local-scale biodiversity data with landscape-scale ecosystem processes and management outcomes in both restoration and protection contexts;

(2) advance multi-taxa ecological monitoring across spatial and temporal scales by integrating insects, soil fauna, and vascular plants as complementary bioindicators, and investigate how trophic cascades, food web dynamics, and species interactions at local scales propagate to influence ecosystem multifunctionality and landscape-scale stability in restored and protected ecosystems;

(3) conduct long-term biodiversity monitoring to elucidate temporal dynamics, delayed responses, successional trajectories, and ecological thresholds that characterize the recovery processes and conservation outcomes in restoration projects and protected area systems over decadal timeframes;

(4) leverage remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning as novel upscaling technologies to extrapolate local biodiversity findings, predict restoration and protection outcomes, model species distributions across scales, and support evidence-based large-scale conservation planning and adaptive management.
Priority will be given to studies advancing multi-scale understanding of protection and restoration. We welcome methodological innovations, empirical case studies from diverse ecosystems and regions, long-term monitoring analyses, and cross-disciplinary research integrating field ecology with remote sensing or modeling. While contributions from flagship restoration projects and LTER sites are encouraged, high-quality studies from single sites are equally welcome. Early-career researchers and teams from underrepresented regions are especially invited to submit.

Dr. Shengbin Chen
Dr. Jing Liu
Prof. Dr. Changliang Shao
Prof. Dr. Yi Ding
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Conservation conservation	1.9	3.2	2021	23.1 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Ecologies ecologies	1.9	3.0	2020	23 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Environments environments	3.7	5.7	2014	19.2 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Forests forests	2.5	4.6	2010	16.8 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Land land	3.2	5.9	2012	17.5 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Sustainability sustainability	3.3	7.7	2009	17.9 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Water water	3.0	6.0	2009	18.9 Days	CHF 2600	Submit

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