Forest Soils: Gatekeepers of Greenhouse Gases

Forest soils play a dual role as critical carbon sinks and significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including CO2, CH4, and N2O. With intensifying global climate change, understanding the mechanisms driving soil GHG emissions under natural (e.g., wildfires, pest outbreaks) and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., logging, fertilization, land-use change) is essential for sustainable forest management and climate mitigation. However, key knowledge gaps persist regarding the interactions between soil properties, microbial communities, and nutrient dynamics in regulating these emissions.
This Research Topic aims to synthesize cutting-edge research on forest soil GHG emissions, focusing on mechanistic insights, innovative monitoring technologies, and effective management strategies. We encourage submissions that address unresolved questions, evaluate mitigation practices, and provide actionable solutions for policymakers and land managers.
We welcome high-quality original research articles, reviews, methodological advances, and modelling studies, including but not limited to:
• Mechanistic Drivers of GHG Emissions, including the differential impacts of natural vs. anthropogenic disturbances on CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes. It is of interest of this collection to consider the forest soil microbial community dynamics (e.g., methanogens, nitrifiers/denitrifiers) in response to disturbances and the role of soil stoichiometry (C:N:P ratios) in modulating GHG production and consumption.
• Technological and Methodological Innovations, whereas the advances in sensor networks, stable isotope tracing, and remote sensing for GHG flux quantification and multi-scale modelling (from pore to landscape), integrating microbial processes and GHG emissions.
• Management and policy implications concerning nature-based solutions for emission reduction and GHG budgets.
This collection welcomes Original Research, Review, Methods, Perspectives, according to the journal’s submission guidelines

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Forest soils, Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG emissions), Microbial communities, Disturbances (natural and anthropogenic), Sustainable Forest Management

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.