Since the Industrial Revolution, the environmental conditions in forest ecosystem have been dramatically changed. Increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen and sulfur depositions, air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, and climate changes including change in temperature and precipitation regime are considered as critical factors that affect forest health in the local, regional, and global scales. These environmental factors affect various plant processes such as growth, photosynthesis, nutrient availability, and defense against herbivore. The emission characteristics of biogenic volatile organic compounds are also affected due to environmental changes, resulting in feedback effects on atmosphere. To forecast future forest health conditions and ecological services, we need to understand the interaction between trees/forests and man-induced environmental changes.
We expect this special issue in Journal of Forest Research plays an important role in knowledge exchange of different research fields. Therefore, although we mainly deal with physiological ecology of woody species, broad issues related to the interaction between trees/forests and changing environments will be accepted.
