AJB – Special Issue Call for Papers
Plant Resilience and Conservation for a Changing Climate

Proposal Submission Deadline: May 30, 2025

The graphic shows a Cortinariu iodes group

As the global climate continues to undergo rapid transformations, the intricate relationships between plants, climate, and human societies become increasingly important to understand. The Botanical Society of America invites contributions to the American Journal of Botany for a special issue exploring the theme of "Plant Resilience and Conservation for a Changing Climate," helping us understand the inextricable link between plants and climate.

Topics of Interest:
We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics related to plants building resilience in a changing world:

Responses of plants and plant populations to shifts in climate factors

  • Epigenetic modifications
  • Physiological adaptations
  • Stress tolerance mechanisms
  • Reproductive traits
  • Other topics broadly related to plant adaptations and factors such as temperature, precipitation, seasonality, altitude, drought, and atmospheric composition.

Conserving endemic species in the face of habitat loss and long-term shifts in climate

  • Managed relocation of plant species informed by physiological traits, ecological suitability, or evolutionary potential (e.g., assisted dispersal, conservation introductions)
  • Climate-driven range shifts
  • Seed banking for biodiversity
  • Plant biology research informed by traditional ecological knowledge or local conservation practices, particularly when integrated with physiological, ecological, or evolutionary analysis.


How to submit a proposal: Authors interested in contributing to this special issue should email a proposal that includes a tentative title, tentative author list, and a 200–300-word abstract. Please send your proposals to ajb@botany.org.

Deadline for proposal submission: Proposals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and the special issue editors. Authors will be notified by mid-June, as to the status of their proposal.

Manuscript submission deadline: Authors whose proposals are accepted should submit their manuscript by September 26, 2025. Please note that acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee the eventual acceptance of the manuscript, as all manuscripts will be rigorously peer-reviewed and held to the standards of the journal. The target date for publication of the special issue is mid-2026.

See the Author Guidelines for details on journal scope, article types, and manuscript preparation.

AJB is a hybrid journal, with an option for Open Access. Authors receive a 20% discount for Open Access or the OA Article Processing Charges (APCs) may be covered by the authors’ institutions if they have a “read and publish” deal with Wiley. For more on Open Access, see https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/15372197/homepage/fundedaccess.

The Botanical Society of America and its publications are committed to inclusive science that reflects disciplinary, human, and geographic diversity.

We look forward to hearing from you,
Jeremy Rentsch, Elizabeth Stacy, Caitlin Mackenzie, Jennifer Boyd, and Vivian Negron-Ortiz
Special Issue Editors