Plant Fossils: Taxonomy, Biogeography and Palaeoenvironments
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 257
Special Issue Editor
Interests: palynology; vegetation history; paleoclimate; human impact on forests; coastal environments; quaternary
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, great progress has been made in research on macroscopic and microscopic plant fossils, leading to a renewed interest in both the history of plants and the connection of palaeobotany with other disciplines. New computational methods and advanced analytical techniques in plant fossil studies, together with a substantial increase in the availability of published data, have allowed us to explore new scientific frontiers and to refine tried and trusted applications. Palaeobotanical data are increasingly employed to calibrate and validate phylogenetic schemes, to elaborate biogeographical patterns through time, and to define palaeoecological dynamics. Current trends in evolutionary biology and taxonomy emphasize how analyses that incorporate fossil data to elucidate relationships within living clades are far more accurate than those based exclusively on extant taxa. Substantial methodological advancements in historical biogeography show how the development of complex and more realistic models, using information from both extinct and extant lineages, can improve our understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of taxa and their underlying mechanisms. Information from global databases on macroscopic and microscopic plant fossils, compared with paleoclimate reconstructions based on independent proxies, allow increasing accuracy in detecting palaeoecological processes at different geographical scales.
This Special Issue welcomes high-quality papers showing how plant fossils can contribute to taxonomical and biogeographical questions of forest taxa, as well as to palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic investigations involving woodland ecosystems.
Dr. Federico Di Rita
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- plant fossils
- taxonomy
- evolutionary biology
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecological dynamics
- palaeoecological processes
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.
