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Conservation Biology and Ecology of Forest Woody Species
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Conservation Biology and Ecology of Forest Woody Species

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 4192

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giuseppe Garfì

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Guest Editor
Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Unit of Palermo, Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Interests: conservation biology and ecology; forest dynamics and human impact; intra- and interspecific interactions of forest species; response of forest species to biotic and abiotic stress
Dr. Salvatore Pasta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Unit of Palermo, Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Interests: floristics; vascular plant conservation; forest ecology and management; vegetation dynamics; palaeoecology; island biogeography; ethnobotany; history of botany; urban ecology; alien plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystems host a significant portion of terrestrial biodiversity. Together with shrubs and lianas, trees build a huge variety of habitats, provide food and shelter for many forest-dependent plants as well as micro-organisms, animal species, prevent soil erosion, mitigate water runoff, etc. Despite their invaluable biological importance and the key ecosystem services they provide, over the past three centuries, forests have undergone sharp shrinkage worldwide, and deforestation rates have even experienced a dramatic acceleration during the last few decades. At least 35% of preagricultural woodlands is already lost, whereas more than 80% of remnant forests are degraded or simplified in terms of structure and composition due to direct or indirect human impact (unsustainable logging, overgrazing, agriculture, urban sprawl, etc.).

In recent decades, awareness and concern of the loss of forests and its impact on climate change, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services supply have risen significantly. In this context, the small proportion of still-existing primeval or undisturbed forests deserve special consideration to address the planning and implementation of strategies for the conservation of biodiversity. In fact, recent studies pointed out that forests still host high levels of intraspecific genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Such characteristics make many forest woody species very resilient to environmental stresses and disturbances (e.g., wildfires) induced by extreme climatic events.

The best policies to promote the conservation of forest biodiversity are protection, sustainable forest management and restoration. This Special Issue aims to show the most recent advances in the field of forest conservation, collecting any contribution (original research papers, reviews, methodological papers, opinions, etc.) focusing on the processes and functioning of well-preserved forest ecosystems, genetic diversity of forest woody species, conservation of relict trees, sustainable forest management, forest habitat restoration, and translocation of endangered forest species.

Dr. Giuseppe Garfì
Dr. Salvatore Pasta
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. Plants 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 2700 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

  • dendrology
  • forest ecosystems
  • forest habitat restoration
  • forest management
  • genetic diversity
  • sustainability
  • translocation practices

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3143 KiB  
Article
Differential Tree Growth Response to Management History and Climate in Multi-Aged Stands of Pinus pinea L.
by Vittorio Garfì and Giuseppe Garfì
Plants 2024, 13(1), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010061 - 23 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1177
Abstract
The possible differential response to the climatic fluctuations of co-occurring trees of different ages is still poorly known and rather controversial. Moreover, in managed forests, such a picture is further complicated by the impact of silvicultural practices. With this concern, in a multi-aged [...] Read more.
The possible differential response to the climatic fluctuations of co-occurring trees of different ages is still poorly known and rather controversial. Moreover, in managed forests, such a picture is further complicated by the impact of silvicultural practices. With this concern, in a multi-aged umbrella pine stand in the Maremma Regional Park (Tuscany, Italy), the spatial patterns and tree-ring response to the climate were investigated by differentiating trees into three classes, i.e., young, mature, and old. The aim was to assess the role of past management in shaping the current stand structure and affecting the growth dynamics at different ages, as well as to evaluate the possible shifting of tree adaptation to the climatic variables throughout plant aging. Our outcomes proved that the current mosaic of even-aged small patches results from a multifaceted forest management history. Until the 1960s, silvicultural treatments seemed more suitable in promoting tree growth and regeneration. Later on, inappropriate and/or untimely thinning probably triggered excessive competition from the top canopy trees, involving reduced stem and root system development in the younger plants living in the understory. Also, the intra-annual growth response to the climate showed some dependence on age. Younger trees are assumed not to be able to efficiently exploit water resources from the deep aquifer during the dry season, probably due to an insufficiently developed taproot, differently than older trees. Accordingly, appropriate and timely thinning, simulating frequent natural disturbances on small areas, could be a suitable management approach to promote sustained growth rates and regeneration processes, as well as healthy and vital trees at all life stages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biology and Ecology of Forest Woody Species)
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17 pages, 1432 KiB  
Article
Close-to-Nature Silviculture to Maintain a Relict Population of White Oak on Etna Volcano (Sicily, Italy): Preliminary Results of a Peculiar Case Study
by Sebastiano Sferlazza, Guglielmo Londi, Donato Salvatore La Mela Veca, Federico Guglielmo Maetzke, Salvatore Vinciguerra and Giovanni Spampinato
Plants 2023, 12(10), 2053; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12102053 - 22 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2174
Abstract
Habitat loss is a potential long-term effect of projected climate change for Mediterranean forest ecosystems. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of a close-to-nature silvicultural practice to conserve an old-growth white oak forest patch in Sicily (Italy) and promote regeneration dynamics. The study area, [...] Read more.
Habitat loss is a potential long-term effect of projected climate change for Mediterranean forest ecosystems. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of a close-to-nature silvicultural practice to conserve an old-growth white oak forest patch in Sicily (Italy) and promote regeneration dynamics. The study area, although small, is distinctive for its isolation, position and environmental characteristics. We conducted a Before–After Control–Impact (BACI) study to analyse the responses of different taxonomic groups (vascular plants and birds) to silvicultural treatments (selection thinning, no thinning), and to determine whether close-to-nature silviculture practices may cause significant shifts in the investigated communities. Specifically, we assessed the responses of (1) vascular plants by means of species diversity and taxonomic distinctness indices and (2) birds in terms of diversity, abundance and forest specialisation. Preliminary results suggest that cautious close-to-nature silviculture practice could—by mimicking natural gap dynamics—contribute to maintaining old-growth forest patches and promote oak seedling emergence without short-term detrimental impacts on biodiversity. Although the monitoring has to be repeated over the long-term, the multi-taxon approach and indices incorporating information on taxonomic relationships into diversity measures were demonstrated to be valuable tools for interpreting biotic community structure and dynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biology and Ecology of Forest Woody Species)
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