Tree Stability and Tree Risk Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

In cities and towns, trees provide many benefits. However, because they are often near targets, such trees also present risk. Arborists and urban foresters manage tree risk to minimize costs associated with tree failure such as debris removal, economic disruption, property damage, personal injury, and litigation. Key components of managing tree risk include assessing the likelihood of failure, estimating the severity of consequences to a target if a tree failed, and determining appropriate ways to mitigate risk. Likelihood of failure depends on the loads a tree experiences and its load-bearing capacity; the severity of consequences depends on the value and occupancy rate of the target, and the size of the tree part predicted to fail; mitigation often includes arboricultural practices such as pruning and the installation of support systems. For this Special Issue, we encourage submissions related to these topics, including but not limited to empirical, theoretical, and modeling investigations of the following:

1. Techniques to assess tree stability and likelihood of failure:
   1. Assessing loads that induce failure;
   2. Assessing load-bearing capacity (including factors that alter load-bearing capacity such as defects and response growth);
2. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the likelihood of failure;
3. Approaches to and techniques for risk analysis;
4. Approaches to and techniques for risk mitigation;
5. Risk tolerance of tree owners.

We hope that this Special Issue provides a forum for novel insights that will advance the science and practice of tree risk management.

Dr. Brian Kane
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.