A new open-access journal, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research in all major forest science disciplines — from molecules to ecosystems to the biosphere — to inform and promote the sustainable management of the world's forests. Led by Professor Mark Adams from the University of Sydney, Australia, the new journal makes cutting-edge forest research freely available through an online platform.
"As the founding chief editor, I am deeply motivated to create the best outlet for the latest, most significant research on forests," says Professor Adams. "This motivation is shared by the majority of forest scientists, who want to see their work have immediate impact."
The new open-access journal includes five sections headed by leading experts:
- Forest Ecophysiology, led by Danielle Way (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
- Forests and the Atmosphere, led by Jörg-Peter Schnitzler (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany)
- Fire and Forests, led by Peter Fulé (Northern Arizona University, USA)
- Tropical Forests, led by Yadvinder Malhi (University of Oxford, UK)
- Forest Growth, led by Frits Mohren (Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands)
Six additional sections will be launched imminently:
- Forest Hydrology, led by Kevin McGuire (Virginia Tech, USA) and Steve McNulty (United States Forest Service, USA)
- Forest Disturbance, led by Aaron Shiels (National Wildlife Research Center, USA) and John Healey (Bangor University, UK)
- Forest Soils, led by Stephan Hättenschwiler (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS), France) and Frank Hagedorn (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Switzerland)
- Temperate and Boreal Forests, led by Maurizio Mencuccini (Centro de Investigación Ecológica y Aplicaciones Forestales (CREAF), Spain)
- People and Forests, led by Erin Sills (North Carolina State University, USA) and Terry Sunderland (University of British Columbia, Canada)
- Forest Management, led by Manfred Lexer (Universität für Bodenkultur (BOKU), Austria)
Efficient and sustainable forest management is key to achieving development goals as we enter the Anthropocene. With governments recognizing this, forests form an increasingly integral part of both national and international policy, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
"Forests are vitally important to people around the world — economically, environmentally and socially," explains Professor Adams. "Forests and woodlands are the strongest terrestrial sinks for atmospheric carbon, deliver most of the fresh water used by people and industry, and can sustainably provide wood and wood products. In addition, they provide a critical habitat for much of the world's endangered species and hundreds of millions of people still live in and depend on forests for their livelihoods".
However, despite the critical importance of forest science to sustainable development, few Open Access publishing options exist for disseminating vital research between scientists, policy makers, industry and local forest users.
"Forest science lags behind other fields in developing a high-quality outlet that conforms with the principles of Open Access," says Professor Adams. "Given the significance of forests in some of the world's most populous and rapidly developing countries in Asia, Africa and Central and Southern America, ensuring that published science is freely available and accessible to all becomes even more important."
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change fulfils this need by providing a centralized source of high-quality research on the latest developments in forest science. Welcoming research from academia, policy makers and business, the journal aims to place forests at the forefront of global attention, with Professor Adam's vision for the journal highlighted in the Field Grand Challenge
"No journal can succeed without the support of its community of researchers," highlights Professor Adams. "Frontiers has already demonstrated their commitment and quality across many scientific disciplines. I believe this track record will convince the forest science community to consider Frontiers in Forests and Global Change as the journal of choice for their ground-breaking research."
The journal is the most recent addition to Frontiers' Open Science for Sustainability journal series.
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Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading open-access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles rapidly and freely available to everybody in the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2018.00001
