Soil Organic Matter Dynamics in Forests
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 294
Special Issue Editors
Interests: climate change; forest management; land use change; soil organic matter
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: forest biogeochemistry; wetland biogeochemistry; succession and ecosystem development; effects of climatic warming and CO2 fertilization on forest soils; soil organic matter chemistry; microbial ecology; chlorine chemistry in water; ultraviolet light disinfection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil organic matter (SOM) is a fundamental component of forest ecosystems, influencing key ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and overall ecosystem resilience. These functions are crucial for maintaining the services forests provide, including biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, and water purification. However, as forests globally face increasing pressures from intricate disturbances under land use change and climate change, a deeper understanding of SOM dynamics sourced from multiple forest compartments is essential for ensuring sustainable forest management and ecosystem stability.
This Special Issue seeks to address research gaps by focusing on the mechanisms controlling SOM dynamics, particularly in relation to SOM quantity, quality, and spatial distribution across various forest types such as montane, upland, lowland, coastal, and urban forests. Key topics include (but are not limited to) the effects of tree species composition (biodiversity), land degradation, erosion, and environmental pollutants on SOM dynamics, covering (but not limited to) the bulk and molecular dynamics of organic matter, biophysical and/or biogeochemical processes regulated by trait-based plant life history, microbiota and fauna along the plant–soil continuum, rhizosphere hotspots, enzyme kinetics, and so forth.
We invite original research and reviews that contribute to practical forest management strategies aimed at enhancing ecosystem complexity and resilience, while supporting the development or recovery of ecosystem services. Additionally, we encourage studies that offer insights into the role of SOM in climate change mitigation and the development of action plans at local, regional, and global levels.
Dr. Minhuang Wang
Prof. Dr. Robert G. Qualls
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
- climate change
- ecosystem complexity
- ecological restoration
- forest disturbance
- land use change
- land cover change
- land management practice
- molecular analysis
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