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Forests
Special Issues
Agro-Ecosystems Resilience in View of Climate Change
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Agro-Ecosystems Resilience in View of Climate Change

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 2666

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tiziana Danise

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Cà Vignal 2, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
Interests: soil chemistry; carbon sequestration; soil organic carbon; soil biology
Prof. Dr. Antonietta Fioretto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental, Biological, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Interests: carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles; crassulacean acid metabolism plants; litter decomposition; Mediterranean forests; soil quality; soil under stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agroecosystems represent an irreplaceable source of well-being for society, but they are more and more susceptible to climate change and socioeconomic pressures. These issues challenge the livelihoods of agroecosystem-based populations, making multifunctional land systems increasingly central to a sustainable land-use policy. Soil erosion and loss of carbon and other nutrients pose a threat to ecosystem health. In addition, soil microbiomes also play key functions in agroecosystems, affecting soil fertility, crop productivity, and stress tolerance; therefore, the loss of biodiversity leads to alterations in soil functioning and, consequently, to a loss of ecosystem services. Thus, assessing the ecosystem responses to climate variability is of great importance for developing more sustainable management strategies aiming to facilitate both climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The present Special Issue is aimed at advancing agroecosystems knowledge to decipher and enhance their resilience to climate change. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Soil nutrients and fertility;
  • Soil biodiversity;
  • Soil organic carbon sequestration;
  • Soil quality;
  • Biogeochemical cycling;
  • Plant-soil system.

Dr. Tiziana Danise
Prof. Dr. Antonietta Fioretto
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. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • soil nutrients and fertility
  • soil biodiversity
  • soil organic carbon sequestration
  • soil quality
  • biogeochemical cycling
  • plant-soil system

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5808 KiB  
Article
Changing Dynamic of Tree Species Composition and Diversity: A Case Study of Secondary Forests in Northern China in Response to Climate Change
by Beichen Liu, Chengrui Liao and Youhong Chang
Forests 2024, 15(2), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020322 - 08 Feb 2024
Viewed by 639
Abstract
Climate warming is believed to have irreversible effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Secondary forests are non-negligible ecosystems in northern China that have attracted much attention because of their instability and sensitivity to global change. However, there is no consensus on the impact [...] Read more.
Climate warming is believed to have irreversible effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Secondary forests are non-negligible ecosystems in northern China that have attracted much attention because of their instability and sensitivity to global change. However, there is no consensus on the impact of warming on secondary forest succession. In this study, we explored the response of tree species diversity to climate warming in northern secondary forests in China using a series of field surveys combined with annual meteorological data from 2015 to 2021. Our results indicate that the temperature in the study area increased in spring and autumn, while the precipitation increased in spring, summer, and autumn from 2015 to 2021. Changes in species composition in the study area and climate warming were significant in the northern region of China. The importance values of many broadleaf tree species increased, whereas those of local coniferous and broadleaf tree species decreased. The Shannon–Wiener, Simpson, and Margalef indices for the pure forest were significantly lower than those for the broadleaf mixed forest and the conifer–broadleaf mixed forest (p < 0.05) in 2015 and 2021. The highest value for the Pielou index was in the conifer–broadleaf mixed forest (p < 0.05), whereas it was not significantly different between the pure forest and broadleaf mixed forest in 2021. Surprisingly, the secondary broadleaf mixed forest in northern China showed an unfavorable degradation trend under the influence of climate change, just the same as the secondary pure forest. Our work provides an experimental data source for research on secondary forests under various climate change scenarios and is an important reference for predicting and dealing with the impact of global climate change on the adaptive management and protection of secondary ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agro-Ecosystems Resilience in View of Climate Change)
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14 pages, 2770 KiB  
Article
Rapid Assessment of Land Use Legacy Effect on Forest Soils: A Case Study on Microarthropods Used as Indicators in Mediterranean Post-Agricultural Forests
by Ninon Delcourt, Nathalie Dupuy, Catherine Rébufa, Adriane Aupic-Samain, Lisa Foli and Anne-Marie Farnet-Da Silva
Forests 2023, 14(11), 2223; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14112223 - 11 Nov 2023
Viewed by 771
Abstract
Agriculture is known to strongly influence soil functioning. Nevertheless, its long-term effects remain not well documented in the Mediterranean region, which has a long history of human land use. The “Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon” is a good illustration of these land use [...] Read more.
Agriculture is known to strongly influence soil functioning. Nevertheless, its long-term effects remain not well documented in the Mediterranean region, which has a long history of human land use. The “Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon” is a good illustration of these land use changes, as its territory is now covered with forests of differing ages and histories. This study investigates the effect of past land use (agricultural terraces) on microarthropods of current forest soils. In this way, Acari and Collembola of soils from ancient forests, recent forests (developed before 1958), and very recent forests (developed after 1958) were analysed. Different pedoclimatic conditions (Meso-Mediterranean vs. Supra-Mediterranean) and two contrasted seasons (winter and summer) were taken into account in mesofauna responses. A negative effect of past agricultural land use was observed on soil microarthropod abundance in very recent forests only, whatever the pedoclimatic conditions. After at least 60 years of reforestation, this negative effect was no longer observed, indicating a recovery of these communities. Land use legacy effect on oribatid mites in post-agricultural forests depended on the pedoclimatic conditions considered, suggesting that the recovery of microarthropod communities takes more time under more arid conditions. Microarthropods can be considered as good bioindicators of past land use effects depending on pedoclimatic conditions in forest soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agro-Ecosystems Resilience in View of Climate Change)
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18 pages, 2092 KiB  
Article
The Different Roles of Mineralogy in Soil Organic Carbon Accumulation in Northern and Southern China
by Yuedong Liu, Yanan Huang, Batande Sinovuyo Ndzelu, Dongyu Xiao, Futao Zhang, Yueling Zhang and Jiguang Zhang
Forests 2023, 14(11), 2214; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14112214 - 09 Nov 2023
Viewed by 897
Abstract
The sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) through mineral protection is an important approach to mitigating climate change. However, the effect of mineral composition on SOC stability is unclear at regional scales. In this study, we investigated the relationship between mineralogy and SOC [...] Read more.
The sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) through mineral protection is an important approach to mitigating climate change. However, the effect of mineral composition on SOC stability is unclear at regional scales. In this study, we investigated the relationship between mineralogy and SOC in Alfisol and Mollisol from southern and northern regions of China. We analyzed soil at two layers for its SOC fractions, mineralogical characteristics and functional groups. It was found that the majority of SOC was stored as mineral-associated organic C (MAOC), which had higher δ13C values and narrower C/N ratios compared to particulate organic C. In Mollisol, the proportion of MAOC and the abundance of aromatic C were higher than that in Alfisol, while polysaccharide C was lower. Compared to Alfisol, Mollisol was dominated by illite, and had significantly (p < 0.05) lower iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) sesquioxides contents. The SOC content was positively correlated with illite in Mollisol, and with Fe and Al sesquioxides in Alfisol. The random forest model identified sesquioxides as the most important determinant of SOC accumulation (36%), followed by SOC fractions (18%) and functional groups (18%). In summary, our study suggests that SOC protection through mineralogy depends more on the composition of the host minerals, and not just on the clay content, and aromatic C is also important in the stabilization of SOC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agro-Ecosystems Resilience in View of Climate Change)
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