Soil Carbon-Nitrogen-Water Relations in Forests

Dear Colleagues,

In forest ecosystems, the primary water source is precipitation, which reaches the forest as rainfall, fog, or snow. When precipitation reaches the soil surface, it infiltrates the soil profile, is stored in the soil, or evaporates into the atmosphere. A crucial role in this process is played by soil organic matter (SOM), which is accumulated mainly in the top part of the soil profile. Forests of different species compositions have different impacts on the quantity and quality of the supplied aboveground and underground organic matter, as well as other properties, such as pH, the amount of N and C, and the circulation of nutrients. The decomposition of organic matter is the basic process regulating the nutrient cycle, primarily carbon, and in turn, the degree of decomposition and the quantity and quality of organic matter significantly affect soil water content. For nutrient-poor soils where water content is highly variable, nutrient availability is a frequent limiting factor for ecosystem development, and net primary production requires water and nutrient availability. Therefore, in this Special Issue, we argue that understanding the carbon, nitrogen, and water relations in forest areas is highly important in climate change projections as areas where warmer and drier conditions are predicted to have more severe and recurrent droughts.

We are interested in contributions that intimately link soil carbon–nitrogen–water to forest ecosystems while focusing on the social science aspects of improving carbon, nitrogen, and water resources in forest areas, use, and policy. Contributions can either be empirical research or conceptual works, examining any key processes, including but not limited to:

• Influence of stand species' composition on carbon, nitrogen, and the water cycle ;
• Influence of drought on carbon–nitrogen–water relations in forest;
• Influence of decomposition of aboveground and underground organic matter on the carbon, nitrogen, and water relations;
• New methods for examing carbon–nitrogen–water relations.

Dr. Anna Ilek
Dr. Małgorzata Szostek
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. Land 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.

• climate change
• forest ecosystems
• soil organic matter
• soil carbon-nitrogen-water interactions
• water cycle
• carbon and nitrogen cycles