Scope

Forests and the Atmosphere is a speciality section of Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. It publishes original, refereed research on the interaction between forests and the atmosphere on local, regional, and global scales under changing climate conditions. Vegetation, in particular forests, supports life on Earth, from storing carbon and supplying oxygen to the atmosphere, to playing a role in particle and cloud formation, and in the cycling of water and nutrients. 

The speciality section focuses on forest-atmosphere exchanges of greenhouse gases, water, energy, and other biogenic trace gases (i.e. volatile organic compounds; VOCs) to observe several parameters. These include observing whole-ecosystem metabolism, as well as quantifying the role of trees and forests as sources and sinks of trace gases, observing the input of gaseous pollutants and nutrients and the role of forests in cleansing the atmosphere. The goal is to foster an improved understanding of biosphere-atmosphere interactions in the Earth system’s climate sensitivity.

We welcome manuscripts that advance knowledge and understanding of:

1) the regulation of trace gas emissions from trees /forests triggered by abiotic and biotic stressors e.g. climate extreme events or herbivore outbreaks;

2) the fluxes of GHG, water, trace gases, and energy from forest ecosystems under a changing climate;

3) the key physical and chemical processes of trace gas exchange within and above canopy chemistry and particle formation;

4) the formation and fate of primary biogenic ozone precursors and the processes occurring within and above forest canopies that control the efficient exchange of gases;

5) the impact of land use change and its relevance for forest-atmosphere interactions; 

6) the role of forests in global CO2 and water balances;

7) the meteorological and climatological effects on forest processes under changing climate;

We expect contributions with clearly formulated hypotheses that employ state-of-the-art technology and approaches in plant/tree physiology, biogeochemistry, and process-based modelling. We especially welcome studies that take interdisciplinary approaches to decipher the great complexity of the mechanisms underlying forest-atmosphere interactions.

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