Impact of Climate Change on Biome Distributions in Forests

Dear colleagues,

Many forests around the world are close to biome edges (ecotones) which are likely to experience dramatic changes in vegetation, with warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns. Migration of tree species in poleward/higher elevation directions could lead to forests invading tundra, temperate forests replacing boreal forests, or tropical and subtropical forests replacing temperate forests. Forests could also be replaced by nonforest biomes such as grasslands, shrublands or deserts, in locations where the climate is expected to become too dry for tree cover. Forests welcomes submissions of reviews, observational, experimental or modeling studies to this Special Issue that examine: (1) current observations of forest change, (2) results of experimental manipulation of temperature and precipitation, (3) forest response to projected future climate scenarios, (4) biotic factors that counteract or reinforce the effects of climate change on forest biome boundaries (e.g., diseases and pests, invasive species, herbivores), (5) landscape factors that interact with climate change to affect forest biome distribution (e.g., landform diversity, elevation, poleward-facing slopes, basins with cold air pooling, water bodies, distribution of soil and substrate types), (6) potential refugia for the current forest biome as the climate warms, and (7) conservation implications of expected forest biome changes. 

Dr. Lee Frelich
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.