1:48 a.m.
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to inform that we are editing a virtual special issue (VSI) of Soil Biology
& Biochemistry, entitled "Plant-soil interactions in forests: Effects of
management, disturbances and climate". I feel that you may contribute to this special
issue.
Soil Biology & Biochemistry publishes original, scientifically challenging research
articles of international significance that describe and explain biological processes
occurring in soil.
Impact Factor: 5.795, 5-Year Impact Factor: 6.767
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/soil-biology-and-biochemistry
The Open call of the VSI is located at (or see the end of this email):
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/soil-biology-and-biochemistry/call-for-pa…
The submission is now open until the 11th of April 2021.
All submissions will go through the normal SBB review and publication process, all the
accepted articles will be collected at the end to form an virtual special issue. The
handling chief editor of this VSI is Joann Whalen (joann.whalen(a)mcgill.ca); the guest
editors are Shirong Liu, Andreas Schindlbacher, Cindy Prescott, Alexia Stokes and
myself.
We aim to have the special issue ready by December 2021.
We look forward to reading your manuscript to this special issue and please inform your
colleagues of this opportunity.
Best regards,
Junwei Luan
Luan, Junwei（栾军伟）
Ph.D./Professor
Institute for Resources and Environment,
International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR),
State Forestry and Grassland Administration
#8 Futong East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100102
Tel:+86 10 84789785
Email: junweiluan(a)icbr.ac.cn
junweiluan(a)126.com
Special issue information:
Plant-soil interactions in forests: Effects of management, disturbances and climate
This special issue will bring together studies that provide mechanistic and quantitative
knowledge and perspectives on plant and soil interactions, that are related to soil
organic carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. The formation of soil organic
matter, physical (aggregation) and chemical protection, and nutrient cycling, are largely
affected and modulated by plant species traits, diversity, and their interactive effects
with root exudation, root-associated microorganisms, and litter quality, especially at the
rhizosphere and litter-soil interface. However, our understanding of these processes is
still limited and those variations in plant traits, especially root traits, that have the
strongest potential to influence soil processes, as well as their interactions with soil
organisms, remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, these processes and their interactions
face modification or decoupling under the impacts of management practices, disturbances,
and environmental change. For example, extreme weather events, including drought, heat and
freezing, and species gains and losses that are a consequence of climate change, may
affect above- and below- ground biota differently. Therefore, decoupling likely occurs,
exerting significant impacts on carbon and nutrient cycles. We require an improved
understanding of how belowground processes vary mechanistically across spatial and
temporal scales, and how potential feedbacks to external factors, including management
practices, disturbances, and climate, are affected. In-depth understanding is essential
for increasing accuracy of terrestrial biogeochemical and dynamic vegetation models, which
are often limited by inadequate integration of key belowground processes.
This special issue focusing on plant-soil interactions related to soil organic carbon and
nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems, and the potential feedbacks under impacts of
management, disturbances and climate change, aims to narrow down the role of plant and
soil interactions in shaping soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling. We invite
submissions on recent findings, methodological breakthroughs and challenges, and
innovative concepts for inspiring discussions on plant-soil interactions in artificial or
natural forest ecosystems in a variety of biomes.
Background and significance
Plant-soil interactions determine ecosystem functions and services of forests, including
carbon sequestration, soil erosion and flood control, remediation and improved soil
fertility. Trees, especially roots and root-associated microbes, influence soil
biodiversity, structure, microbial processes and biogeochemical cycling. Physical and
chemical properties of soils affect the nutrition, productivity and diversity of plants.
Forest management practices and silvicultural treatments affect plant-soil interactions
and consequently the associated ecological functions and services of forests.
Understanding the responses of these critical ecological processes (e.g. biodiversity,
carbon and nutrient cycling) and their interactions with other environmental or human
disturbances is essential for designing sustainable forest management strategies.
Concurrently with forest management, climate changes affect the complex interactions
between plants and soil. Though numerous field experiments manipulating single or multiple
environmental factors gained insights into the potential ecosystem responses, and our
understanding has improved by studying natural climate gradients, climate change effects
on plant-soil interactions still remain uncertain, especially in forest ecosystems.
This special issue will cover a wide range of topics in relations to forest management
practices, disturbances, environmental changes and their effects on critical ecological
processes and interactions. It is highly relevant to policy makers in making decisions
about sustainable forest management with consideration of protecting soil, biodiversity
and their interactions.
Submissions to SBB that deal with these matters in experimental and conceptual terms are
invited and can be tagged as intended for consideration for collation into the Virtual
Special Issue (VSI: Forest plant-soil interactions) at the point of submission via the
online EES system.
Tagging options will remain open until 11 April 2021, with the aim of publishing the
accepted papers as a collated special issue in December 2021. All manuscripts will be
handled and considered in the same manner as mainstream submissions to the journal, and
likewise published promptly online if accepted. General enquiries about the topic can be
made to either of the co-ordinating editors below.
Junwei Luan
International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan
Institute for resources and environment
Beijing, 100102 P.R. China
E-mail: junweiluan(a)icbr.ac.cn
Shirong Liu
Chinese Academy of Forestry
The Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection
Beijing, 100091 P.R. China
E-mail: liusr(a)caf.ac.cn
Andreas Schindlbacher
Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Austria
Wien 1131 Austria
E-mail: andreas.schindlbacher(a)bfw.gv.at
Cindy Prescott
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
E-mail: Cindy.Prescott(a)ubc.ca
Alexia Stokes
French National Research Institute for Food, Agriculture and Environment
Montpellier 34398 Cedex 5 France
E-mail: alexia.stokes(a)cirad.fr
Joann Whalen
Department of Natural Resource Sciences
McGill University, Macdonald Campus, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Québec PQ H9X3V9, Canada
Email: joann.whalen(a)mcgill.ca