Plant Ecology - Recent advances in studying vegetation at forest edges

Guest Editors

Karen A. Harper, Department of Biology, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Javad Es'haghi Rad, Forestry Department, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
Christina Rinas, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; and University of Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

Themes & Objectives

It is widely recognized that timber harvesting and deforestation have a substantial impact on population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem services. One consequence of deforestation is the proliferation of anthropogenic forest edges across the globe. However, despite their global presence, edges remain relatively understudied relative to the interior of forested ecosystems.

Edge habitats are highly variable; some are urban forests surrounded by skyscrapers, whereas others consist of woody vegetation adjacent to abandoned fields, roads, farmlands, and pastures. Due to the interface of conditions of the forest and the adjacent open area, forest edges experience altered microclimate and biogeochemical inputs, which extends into the forest. As a result, even edge influence that extends 20 m or less can have a substantial effect on vegetation structure and composition and wildlife habitat, with effects magnified in heavily fragmented landscapes. Given that over 70% of the worlds’ forests are < 1 km from an edge, studies investigating forest edges, both natural and anthropogenic, are important for forest management and conservation. A better understanding of vegetation patterns at forest edges aids in identifying priority areas for conservation of rare, threatened plants and wildlife species at-risk and predicting how forests will respond to ongoing global change. Furthermore, understanding the dynamics of natural edges can help scientists understand the magnitude of the impacts of anthropogenic edges.

In the past few decades, the number of field-based studies on forest edges has increased, particularly in previously understudied, and increasingly imperiled, regions such as Asia and Africa. This highlights the need for a special issue on this topic, with the goal of bringing together diverse researchers whose studies will help develop effective conservation strategies globally.

In this special issue, we sought scientifically sound manuscripts relating to (but not limited to) the following topics:

1. Plant diversity, composition, functional, and biomass patterns along a forest edge-interior gradient.
2. Impact of fragments properties, such as size, shape, and isolation, on plant communities and soil properties.
3. Microclimate and microhabitat variability along a forest edge-interior gradient.
4. Forest stand structure and dynamics along a forest edge-interior gradient.
5. Impact of fragmentation on plant-animal interactions, trophic cascades, and/or food web dynamics.
6. The effects of forest fragmentation and/or connectivity on ecological processes.
7. Forest management and conservation at forest edges.

It also addresses United Nation Sustainable Development Goal Target 15.1: Conserve and Restore Ecosystems (this opens in a new tab) and Target 15.5: Protect Biodiversity and Natural Habitats (this opens in a new tab).

Students and Early Career Researchers (this opens in a new tab) were especially encouraged to submit.

EXPECTED PUBLICATION: Early 2024
(Accepted articles will be made available Online First (this opens in a new tab) on an ongoing basis.)

About the Guest Editors

Dr. Karen A. Harper, Associate Editor for Plant Ecology, is an adjunct professor and instructor at Saint Mary’s University and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. The focus of her research throughout most of her career has been on vegetation at both natural and anthropogenic forest edges including studies throughout Canada and in Brazil. Dr. Harper has published key papers in edge research including a well-cited synthesis in 2005 and a more recent literature review. In August 2022, she co-organized an oral session at the ESA/CSEE Meeting in Montreal on ‘Recent advances in studying vegetation at forest edges’ which led to this special issue in Plant Ecology.

Dr. Javad Es'haghi Rad, professor of forest ecology at Urmia University, is Editor-in-Chief of Forest Research and Development (Urmia University). His research covers forest biodiversity, forest community analysis and, numerical ecology in temperate forests. Recently, Dr. Rad’s research involves edge effect analysis in open canopy versus dense canopy oak forests, and also vegetation and soil properties at anthropogenic forest edges in temperate forests. He co-authored several monographs and over 80 peer-reviewed papers in academic scientific journals.

Dr. Christina Rinas is a community ecologist and post-doctoral researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Her current research focuses on the effects of forest edges and clearcuts on rare lichen communities in Nova Scotia. In the past, Dr. Rinas studied the diversity and distribution of lichens and bryophytes communities along environmental gradients, as well as changes in subalpine vascular plant communities. She completed her PhD at the University of Sherbrooke in Québec, Canada, and her masters at the Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, USA.

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