The rapid integration of artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital technologies is reshaping modern forestry and agroforestry, particularly in tropical plantation ecosystems. This special issue aims to explore cutting-edge advancements in intelligent forestry robotics, precision machinery, and data-driven ecosystem management strategies tailored to tropical environments. By focusing on the intersection of mechanical engineering, forestry ecology, and computational intelligence, we seek to address key challenges in sustainable resource utilization, climate resilience, and productivity optimization across plantation systems such as rubber forests, coconut, and areca nut groves.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. Intelligent Harvesting Robotics: Innovations in robotic systems for high-value tropical economic tree species (e.g., coconut, areca nut, rubber latex) with emphasis on adaptive grasping, path planning, and multi-sensor fusion for real-time decision-making under complex field conditions.

2. Precision Production Equipment: Development of smart machinery for natural rubber tapping, pesticide application, and soil-plant-machine interaction analysis in heterogeneous terrain, integrating IoT and edge computing for autonomous operation.

3. Climate-Smart Agroecology: Modeling carbon-nitrogen cycling dynamics in tropical plantations using machine learning and big data analytics, with applications for climate change mitigation and ecosystem service quantification.

4. Digital Twin and Phenomics: Multi-modal plant phenotyping frameworks combining 3D reconstruction, hyperspectral imaging, and AI-driven trait extraction for genotype-to-phenotype mapping in trees.

5. Smart Plantation Management: Integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ground robots, and in-situ sensors for real-time monitoring of soil health, tree stress, and biomass prediction, supported by blockchain-enabled traceability systems.

6. Renewable Energy-Powered Plantation Forestry: Design of solar/hybrid agricultural machinery and energy-efficient decision-support systems for tropical forest operations, addressing energy poverty and carbon footprint reduction.

This special issue will feature contributions from leading researchers in robotics, forestry engineering, and ecological informatics, with a focus on scalable solutions for tropical regions. By bridging theoretical innovations with practical implementations, we aim to provide actionable insights for policymakers, industry practitioners, and academia working toward UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2, 12, and 15). Submissions will undergo rigorous peer review, with selected papers highlighted for their potential to transform tropical plantation management through interdisciplinary synergy.

We particularly encourage submissions that demonstrate:

1.Field-validated prototypes or algorithms tested in tropical environments

2.Cross-disciplinary approaches combining robotics, ecology, and data science

3.Comparative studies between traditional and AI-augmented forestry practices

4.Open-access datasets or simulation tools for benchmarking smart forestry technologies

This initiative aligns with global efforts to build climate-resilient forestry systems while promoting technological sovereignty in tropical regions. Join us in shaping the future of intelligent forestry!

Guest Editors: 

Prof. Dr. Yong He, Zhejiang University, China

Prof. Dr. Zhou Yang, South China Agricultural University; Guangdong Ocean University, China 

Prof. Dr. Xirui Zhang, Hainan University, China 

Prof. Dr. Xiongzhe Han, Kangwon National University, South Korea 

Dr. Jie Guo, Hainan University, China 

Deadline

The deadline for manuscript submissions is 31 December 2026, but we can accommodate extensions on a case-by-case basis. All papers will be published as open access articles upon acceptance.

Submission Instructions

Please submit the full manuscript to Smart Forestry via our Online Submission System. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors for submission of manuscripts is available on the For Authors page.

Additionally, please choose the topic of this Special Issue when submitting and specify it in your cover letter. For further inquiries, please contact Guest Editors:

Yong He (yhe@zju.edu.cn)

Zhou Yang (yangzhou@scau.edu.cn)

Xirui Zhang (zhangxr@hainanu.edu.cn)

Xiongzhe Han (hanxiongzhe@kangwon.ac.kr)

Jie Guo (jie.guo@hainanu.edu.cn)