Conserving Forests in the Changing Environment
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Forestry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024)
Special Issue Editor
Interests: heavy metal toxicity; phytoremediation; plant-plant interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forest ecosystems are a limitless source of provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services. However, these are being lost at an unprecedented rate because of the expansion of the human population and the associated natural and anthropogenic after-effects. The natural destruction of forests is mostly led by forest fires, which can destroy a great deal of faunal and floral biodiversity within a short period of time. Though forest fires are natural, they have recently been heavily escalated by human-induced global warming. On the other hand, anthropogenic forest loss is an often practiced long-term process accommodating the ever-increasing population and its unsustainable needs. The two major human actions leading to the destruction of forest ecosystems across the globe are the overexploitation of forest resources and land-use changes via the systematic occupancy of forest land and its conversion to agricultural, urbanized, and industrialized landscapes. However, there are also indirect implications of human actions, such as climate change, the introduction of invasive species etc., which are further impacting the global forest ecosystems. The extent of damage to forests is now imposing serious threats to ecosystems. The complex interactions and interwoven dynamics of the forest ecosystem increase the interdependency of species. The destruction of any one component of a forest ecosystem disrupts the entire ecological structure, causing compelling and sometimes even irreversible impacts. The ecological value of forests cannot be assessed in monetary terms, but if we could put a price on these non-marketed services, it could radically modify our perception of forests and make the pendulum swing back from an ignorant attitude to a more conservative and sustainable approach.
The proposed Special Issue on forest conservation under this scenario attempts to bring forth various issues underlying threats to forest ecosystems and innovative conservation efforts being undertaken in different parts of the world. It will focus on high-quality research papers and review articles highlighting novel approaches. Some site-specific case studies with wider impact may also be included.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Harminder Singh
Prof. Dr. Harminder Pal Singh
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 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 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.
Keywords
- forest degradation
- biodiversity loss
- risk assessment
- sustainable conservation
- management strategies
