About this Research Topic
Forests are an irreplaceable provider of goods and services to society and an integral part of mitigating human-caused climate change. But, climate-driven risks to forests – in particular, increasing occurrence of drought and wildfire – may compromise the ability of forests to provide these important co-benefits to future generations. Recent, widespread drought-related forest die-offs and record setting fire seasons have underscored this reality. As a result, there is an urgent need to understand the mechanisms of resilience that allow forests to persist amid multiple, interacting stressors.
Mechanisms of forest resilience to human-driven climate change will likely be varied and may include unique adaptations to drought and/or fire, the retreat of species into highly suitable habitats (a.k.a. climate refugia), and beneficial interspecies interactions (e.g., facilitation, mutualism). However, we often lack the basic natural history and biological information at a species level that would allow for us to appreciate all of these interacting mechanisms of resilience. Recent research has focused on uncovering the mechanisms of resilience of forest ecosystems under worsening droughts and extreme fire activity. From this work has emerged generalizable principles of the biological and ecological mechanisms that allow for forest resilience to global change.
This Research Topic aims to highlight diverse, multi-disciplinary approaches to studying forest resilience, with the goal of drawing generalizations and novel approaches that will be of broad interest to forest ecologists, conservationists, and managers alike. Such approaches provide needed insight into the multi-faceted and interacting responses of forest trees to a rapidly changing environment.
An example of some themes or topics for this issue include:
• Ecophysiological studies of the hydraulic or carbon-related traits that underlie survival and resilience to drought and/or fire.
• Dendroecological investigations that identify the climate-growth sensitivity and demographic responses of resilient forest species.
• Remote sensing-based studies of tree health and mortality that reveal landscape-scale patterns of resilience to fire and/or drought.
• Ecological studies of inter-species interactions (e.g., facilitation, resource sharing) that contribute to resilient responses to drought and/or fire.
• Microbiology or molecular ecology studies of symbiotic fungi or bacteria that enhance drought tolerance and/or fire response.
Mechanisms of forest resilience to human-driven climate change will likely be varied and may include unique adaptations to drought and/or fire, the retreat of species into highly suitable habitats (a.k.a. climate refugia), and beneficial interspecies interactions (e.g., facilitation, mutualism). However, we often lack the basic natural history and biological information at a species level that would allow for us to appreciate all of these interacting mechanisms of resilience. Recent research has focused on uncovering the mechanisms of resilience of forest ecosystems under worsening droughts and extreme fire activity. From this work has emerged generalizable principles of the biological and ecological mechanisms that allow for forest resilience to global change.
This Research Topic aims to highlight diverse, multi-disciplinary approaches to studying forest resilience, with the goal of drawing generalizations and novel approaches that will be of broad interest to forest ecologists, conservationists, and managers alike. Such approaches provide needed insight into the multi-faceted and interacting responses of forest trees to a rapidly changing environment.
An example of some themes or topics for this issue include:
• Ecophysiological studies of the hydraulic or carbon-related traits that underlie survival and resilience to drought and/or fire.
• Dendroecological investigations that identify the climate-growth sensitivity and demographic responses of resilient forest species.
• Remote sensing-based studies of tree health and mortality that reveal landscape-scale patterns of resilience to fire and/or drought.
• Ecological studies of inter-species interactions (e.g., facilitation, resource sharing) that contribute to resilient responses to drought and/or fire.
• Microbiology or molecular ecology studies of symbiotic fungi or bacteria that enhance drought tolerance and/or fire response.
Keywords: Forest Resilience, Climate Change, Wildfire, Drought, Stressors, Mechanisms
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
