Evidence-based options and forward-looking approaches for the conservation and management of diverse wet forests in times of rapid climate change

Worldwide, ecosystems and species are facing unprecedented stress factors in the wake of rapid climate change, without the time they need to adapt. This Research Topic particularly refers to rainforests, oceanic-subtropical and oceanic-temperate forests. Wet forests rich in key hygrophilous species (e.g. laurophyllous or malacophyllous trees, epiphytes, climbers, vines, filmy ferns, and liverworts) are particularly sensitive to overheating and desiccation. Being productive and biomass-rich, they may pose an increased risk of forest fires in the future. Their characteristic and indigenous biota and entangled life, on the other hand, are fire-intolerant. They thus include the ecosystems that are most sensitive to climate change and are on the threshold of tipping points for irreversible ecosystem degradation.

Authors are invited to submit original research articles and review papers on the following topics related to conservation and restoration strategies, but are not limited to these:

- What features, plant functional traits, thresholds and meaningful indicator sets should be included in field studies, SDM and monitoring and surveillance to assess the completeness of species diversity, habitat structures and functions?
- Risk reduction in large, contiguous, biomass-rich forest areas with high productivity at the landscape level means choosing between active intervention management and the greatest possible wilderness without any infrastructure - when to aim for what?
- Ecosystem restoration: unregulated regeneration and succession trajectories after disturbance or deliberately manipulated succession development in terms of `assisted colonization´?
- Which basic data must be further taken into account for research and evidence-based decisions in the future?
- Which current data deficits pose the greatest obstacles to research on ecological change and need to be addressed with high priority?
- Which partners and expertise must be further involved in decision-making in order to achieve the goals?

Keywords: climate impact, restoration, vulnerability, forest management, biodiversity conservation, forest fires

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.