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Forests
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Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem
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Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 May 2024) | Viewed by 9102

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ping Wang

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
Interests: heavy metals; microbiology; ecosystem restoration
Dr. Chao Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
Interests: heavy metals; microbiology; ecosystem restoration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil contamination is a major threat to terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Most contaminants that enter soil come from anthropogenic sources such as agricultural and forestry practices, industrial activities, and tourism, which result in a significant increase in the levels of potentially toxic contaminants, including heavy metals, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, or some emerging pollutants (e.g., nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, or plastics) in soil, which have harmful effects on ecosystem functions and consequently affect human health. Although a great amount of research has focused on pollution characterization, health risk assessment, and source apportionment of forest soil, a general solution for the control of forest soil contamination remains to be found, and new strategies for use in soil remediation and ecosystem restoration are urgently needed. This Special Issue plans to give an overview of the most recent advancements in the field of forest soil contamination and will provide selected contributions regarding the nature and extent of soil contamination and the state of novel methodologies and innovative techniques for soil remediation in forest ecosystems, including case studies, meta-analysis studies, and model studies, in order to promote knowledge and management strategies for forest ecosystems.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Inorganic and organic soil contaminants;
  • Plant–soil interactions;
  • Remediation actions/strategies in polluted soils;
  • New methods/techniques for soil pollution diagnosis;
  • Ecotoxicological effects of pollutants on soil living organisms;
  • Effects of pollutants on soil functions and ecosystem services;
  • Environmental factors affecting fate and toxicity of soil pollutants;
  • Climate change effects in polluted soils;
  • Risk assessment of polluted soils.

Prof. Dr. Ping Wang
Dr. Chao Huang
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

  • soil contaminants
  • soil ecotoxicology
  • soil quality
  • soil remediation
  • phytoremediation
  • bioremediation
  • bioavailability
  • risk assessment
  • heavy metals
  • persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4261 KiB  
Article
A Scientometric Analysis and Visualization of Forest Soil Contamination Research from Global Perspectives
by Qingyu Wu, Yifei Cao, Ting Yu, Jinglin Yang, Siyu Fan, Chonglin Feng, Zhiming Liu and Chao Huang
Forests 2024, 15(6), 1068; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15061068 - 20 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1488
Abstract
Forest soil contamination is a significant problem with risks to ecosystems and human health. It reduces soil quality, hampers plant growth, and disrupts ecosystems. To understand current research and identify future directions, this study analyzed 2659 documents on forest soil contamination published on [...] Read more.
Forest soil contamination is a significant problem with risks to ecosystems and human health. It reduces soil quality, hampers plant growth, and disrupts ecosystems. To understand current research and identify future directions, this study analyzed 2659 documents on forest soil contamination published on the Web of Science from 1970 to 2023. Using bibliometrics, this study systematically analyzed the knowledge structure, research hotspots, and development trends in forest soil pollution. China, the United States, and Poland were the top contributors, with 11.28%, 8.42%, and 7.15% of publications, respectively. Despite fewer publications, the Netherlands and Sweden had significant research influence. The Chinese Academy of Sciences had the most publications. The primary research topics included heavy metals, ecosystems, deposition, air pollution, and organic matter. Keyword cluster and burst analysis highlighted the importance of heavy metals, microbial communities, atmospheric deposition, and organic matter. Notably, microplastics emerged as a notable gap in the existing research by highly cited papers analysis, indicating they can be a future research focus. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of forest soil contamination, offering insights into current research themes and emerging trends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem)
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14 pages, 2335 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Paulownia fortunei L. for the Phytoremediation of Pb
by Lu Du, Hang Yang, Juan Xie, Liangze Han, Zhiyi Liu, Zhiming Liu, Yonghua Chen and Rongkui Su
Forests 2023, 14(6), 1245; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061245 - 15 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1773
Abstract
Pb endangers forest ecological health; phytoremediation is an effective Pb remediation technology. Woody plants with Pb tolerance provided a mechanism for the phytoremediation of Pb. Paulownia fortunei (L.), a fast-growing woody plant, has a good tolerance to Pb. However, its tolerance mechanism is [...] Read more.
Pb endangers forest ecological health; phytoremediation is an effective Pb remediation technology. Woody plants with Pb tolerance provided a mechanism for the phytoremediation of Pb. Paulownia fortunei (L.), a fast-growing woody plant, has a good tolerance to Pb. However, its tolerance mechanism is unclear. The results in this study revealed that P. fortunei seedlings can withstand 400 mg·L−1 Pb stress. The quantification of Pb in different P. fortunei tissues showed an increasing trend of accumulation in root > leaf > stem; the transport coefficient and enrichment coefficient decreased with an increase in Pb concentration. The tolerance of P. fortunei to Pb may be related to cell partition and immobilization by the cell wall. Microstructural analysis performed using scanning electron microscopy showed that the absorbed Pb is mainly distributed in cell wall components, and when the concentration of Pb increases, it can be transferred to soluble parts and organelles. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometry results showed that excess hydroxyl groups occurred under Pb stress in the outer epidermis cell walls of roots and leaves adsorbing heavy metals. When the concentration of Pb was over 400 mg·L−1, the growth of P. fortunei was inhibited, the root cell wall was deformed, the plasmolysis occurred in the cauline cell, and the internal leaf capsule was ruptured. Furthermore, antioxidant enzyme activity was significantly reduced. Therefore, P. fortunei can transfer the underground part of Pb to the aboveground part up to the concentration of 400 mg·L−1. This study provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for fully utilizing woody plant resources to restore the ecological environment of forests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem)
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20 pages, 4724 KiB  
Article
Litsea Males Are Better Adapted to Pb Stress Than Females by Modulating Photosynthesis and Pb Subcellular Distribution
by Simeng Li, Qinyi Wang, Wenjun Li, Yan Yang and Lijuan Jiang
Forests 2023, 14(4), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14040724 - 1 Apr 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2185
Abstract
Litsea cubeba Pers., a dioecious species, is an important tree species for the bioenergy industry with great potential for lead (Pb)-polluted soil phytoremediation. However, the sex-specific morphological and physiological characteristics of L. cubeba under Pb stress remain largely unknown. In this study, L. [...] Read more.
Litsea cubeba Pers., a dioecious species, is an important tree species for the bioenergy industry with great potential for lead (Pb)-polluted soil phytoremediation. However, the sex-specific morphological and physiological characteristics of L. cubeba under Pb stress remain largely unknown. In this study, L. cubeba was used as a study model to identify sex differences in leaf traits, chlorophyll, photosynthetic gas parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence, Pb subcellular distribution, and photosynthesis-related nutrient contents in chloroplasts and cell nuclei under three different Pb concentrations [0 (CK), 1 (P1), 2 (P2), and 3 (P3) mmol/kg]. The results indicate that Pb stress significantly decreases photosynthetic leaf pigments in both sexes, mainly caused by changes in Ca, Mg, and Mn contents. Furthermore, L. cubeba male plants exhibited greater adaptability to Pb stress by enlarging their leaf area, enhancing photosynthesis and excess light energy in the form of heat dissipation when compared to female plants. Notably, we observed that more Pb reached the organelle fraction and damaged chloroplasts and mitochondria in female leaves under high-level Pb treatments compared to those of the opposite sex. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated that Pb stress could significantly up-regulate more genes involved in photosynthetic antenna proteins and photosynthesis pathways in male leaves than in female leaves. Taken together, L. cubeba male plants are clearly more resistant to Pb toxicity than female plants—at least under the described Pb treatments—which is most likely due to differences in Pb allocation. This research offers a theoretical foundation for the utilization of male and female L. cubeba as suitable plants for the remediation of Pb-polluted soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem)
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16 pages, 2836 KiB  
Article
Impact of Silica Addition on Alleviating Cadmium Stress: Case Studies of Three Afforestation Tree Species Seedlings in Southern China
by Ziyang Wang, Shaofei Jin, Yi Su, Dongmei He, Yunxiang Wang, Yifei Chen, Chenlei Lin, Xiaoli Liao and Dexiang Zheng
Forests 2022, 13(10), 1641; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13101641 - 7 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1727
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) stress is becoming an increasing menace for plants, inducing a series of negative effect. Silicon (Si) plays an important role in mitigating Cd stress in plants. Here, we conducted a one-year experiment with three kinds of tree species seedlings (Schima [...] Read more.
Cadmium (Cd) stress is becoming an increasing menace for plants, inducing a series of negative effect. Silicon (Si) plays an important role in mitigating Cd stress in plants. Here, we conducted a one-year experiment with three kinds of tree species seedlings (Schima superba, Chinese sweetgum, Chinese fir) and five levels of Cd treatments (0 mg·kg−1, 6 mg kg−1, 12 mg kg−1, 24 mg kg−1, 36 mg kg−1) with or without 1 g kg−1 Si addition to investigate the mitigation effect of Si on woody plants. The results in this study showed that Cd stress triggered morphological and physiological changes, inhibiting the growth of the three kinds of tree species seedlings. Low concentrations of Cd treatment stimulated the biomass production of Schima superba and Chinese sweetgum seedlings, whereas the biomass production of Chinese fir was not stimulated by Cd treatment. The stimulatory effects were also observed in the antioxidant enzyme (SOD, POD, CAT) activities of the three kinds of seedlings. The MDA contents decreased with the rise of Cd treatments. Soil pH decreased under Cd stress. BCF values of different fractions were observed to increase with the rise of Cd treatments, except for the leaf BCF value of Chinese sweetgum. The root−to−stem TF values of all increased compared with the control, while the root-to-leaf TF values were observed to decrease. Si addition enhanced the growth of the three kinds of tree species seedlings, inducing the increase of heights, ground diameter, leaf morphological parameters, biomass production, the content of chlorophyll and the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Treatment with Si significantly decreased the Cd concentration in different fractions of the three kinds of seedlings. Soil pH increased after treatment with Si. The BCF values for Si-treated plants were all observed to be lower than the non-Si-treated ones. However, the addition Si did not affect the root-to-stem and root-to-leaf TF values in the three kinds of seedlings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Contamination in Forest Ecosystem)
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