Continental-scale mapping of forest tree density in North America using remote sensing and deep learning with uncertainty quantification
August 2026
Accurate, spatially consistent estimates of tree density remain elusive at continental scales, limiting our ability to assess forest structure, carbon stocks, and biodiversity. Existing global assessments...
Meta-analysis of 21st century studies shows that deforestation induces profound changes in soil characteristics, particularly soil organic carbon accumulation
April 2025
Deforestation is one of the most serious environmental problems facing humankind. It continues to escalate rapidly across many regions of the world, thereby deteriorating the forest soil quality. This...
Altitudinal variation in drought resilience of Tianshan spruce (Picea schrenkiana) in the Middle Tianshan Mountains, China
August 2026
Understanding how forest resilience varies with altitude is critical for predicting drought responses in mountain ecosystems. As a major water source for arid Central Asia, the Tianshan Mountains have...
Microbial necromass underpins long-term soil carbon stability and ecosystem carbon persistence in pine reforestations
August 2026
The long-term carbon (C) sequestration potential of plantations hinges on the dynamics and persistence of mature forest C sinks, yet how C storage and stability evolve with increasing forest age remains...
A global meta-analysis reveals coupled biogeochemical and microbial successional trajectories in forest soils
August 2026
Forest succession fundamentally reshapes soil biogeochemistry and the resident microbial communities, yet a synthesis of global response patterns has been hindered by methodological inconsistencies...
Improving peer review capacity and integrity in forestry journals
August 2026
The peer review process in forestry journals has remained largely unchanged despite significant shifts in the academic publishing landscape over the past decade. Using data from 156 forestry journals...
To clear-cut or not to clear-cut: Diversifying benefits from small-scale forestry in Sweden
April 2026
This study explores the motivations, perceived benefits, and challenges associated with the adoption of clearcut-free forestry by early adopters among non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners in...
Understory functional trait adaptation to climate change is primarily mediated by soil conditions under long-term afforestation on the Loess Plateau
August 2026
Soil and climate conditions drive plant trait variation in natural ecosystems. However, afforestation induces rapid and significant shifts in these environmental drivers. Yet the extent to which such...
Bryophytes as bioindicators in natural pine forests on mineral soils in Poland
August 2026
Although bryophytes are often underrepresented in vegetation classifications, our study demonstrates their crucial role in differentiating pine forest communities and highlights their untapped potential...
Response of woody vegetation and soils to modern climate change in the Altai Mountains
April 2026
The upper forest boundary in the mountains is a reliable bioindicator of modern climate change, though its dynamics are influenced by multiple factors. Conjugate studies on the structure of tree stands...
Old-growth mixed beech-dominated forests continue accumulating carbon with advancing age
April 2026
Old-growth forests uniquely support biodiversity while serving as some of the planet's most important carbon stocks. The influence of tree and stand age on carbon flux dynamics remains debated—an urgent...
Effects of habitat fragmentation on multiple ecosystem functions in urban remnant forests
April 2026
Urbanization-driven habitat fragmentation threatens ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) in remnant forests through biodiversity erosion. This study investigates the effects of habitat fragmentation on...
A resilience dichotomy in mangrove forests: Native resistance versus exotic compensation to climatic and tidal extremes
August 2026
Native and exotic mangrove trees are increasingly challenged by the synergistic pressures of climate change, yet the mechanisms defining their comparative resilience remain unresolved. This study characterizes...
Modeling adaptive growth in forest trees: Integrating individual variation to understand climate responses in widely-distributed species
August 2026
An improved understanding of how forest trees may respond individually and differentially to climate across broad environmental gradients, due to adaptation or physiological acclimation, may facilitate...
Dominant species stability outweighs species asynchrony and diversity in regulating temperate forest regeneration
August 2026
Climate change increasingly threatens forest regeneration by disrupting seedling dynamics, yet the stabilizing mechanisms underpinning these critical early life stages remain poorly understood. Using...
Land use and landscape pattern changes dominated ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in a temperate mountain region
April 2026
Climate change, land use/cover changes (LUCC), and landscape pattern alterations have increasingly complicated interactions among ecosystem services (ES) in temperate mountain forests, underscoring...
The patterns of forest soil particulate and mineral associated organic carbon characteristics with latitude and soil depth across eastern China
April 2025
Forest ecosystems function as the largest carbon (C) sink in terrestrial ecosystems, and nearly half of the C in forest ecosystems is stored in forest soils. However, the patterns of two main fractions...
Dynamic parameterization of the nutrient resorption process in forest ecosystems with a hybrid model
August 2026
Nutrient resorption is a key process through which plants optimize resource use in nutrient-limited environments. Global nutrient addition experiments and meta-analyses have revealed high variability...
The origin and beginnings of modern Continuous Cover Forestry in Europe
December 2025
Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is a type of forest management that is based on ecological, environmental, and biological principles. Specific definitions of CCF greatly vary and the concept usually...
Potential for improved groundwater recharge and dry-season flows through forest landscape restoration on degraded lands in the tropics
December 2025
As interest in tropical forest restoration accelerates, understanding its hydrological implications is increasingly urgent. While concerns persist that reforestation will reduce annual water yields—particularly...
Extraction of eucalyptus age and estimation of its aboveground biomass in China with the integration of empirical model and machine learning algorithm
August 2026
Eucalyptus plantations are extensively distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and play important roles in timber production, economic development, and regional carbon cycles. Due to its fast...
Increasing water availability strengthens conspecific negative density dependence but weakens heterospecific negative density dependence in Japanese old-growth forests
August 2026
The relative magnitudes of negative conspecific and heterospecific density dependence (CDD and HDD) have been widely used to explain tree species diversity. However, it remains unclear how the negative...
Plant functional trait diversity and structural diversity co-underpin ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical forests
2023
Tree species diversity is assumed to be an important component in managing forest ecosystems because of effects on multiple functions or ecosystem multifunctionality. However, the importance of tree...
Tree biomass allocation is governed by allometry but modulated by optimization
April 2026
Understanding the patterns and drivers of biomass allocation among organs at a broad scale is crucial for predicting the responses of plant growth and carbon sequestration to environmental change. However,...
Patterns and impacts of an unprecedented outbreak of bark beetles in Central Europe: A glimpse into the future?
2024
Natural disturbances have significantly intensified across European forests, with bark beetle outbreaks being the most rapidly escalating disturbance type. Since 2018, the Czech Republic (Central Europe)...
