سخن سردبیر

First, we would like to express our gratitude for the efforts and contributions of the former editor-in-chief, the director-in-charge, the production editor, and the editorial board for the timely and regular publication of previous issues of this journal despite numerous limitations. Following the conclusion of the previous editorial term, and by order of the Vice President for Research and Technology at the University of Tehran, I was appointed editor-in-chief of the journal as of 12/18/2025. In addition, several new members of the editorial board were proposed and appointed. Thanks to these previous efforts, the journal is now recognized as a reputable and high-quality publication in the field of forest and wood science. Based on the evaluation of the Iranian Scientific Publications Commission, the journal is currently ranked B, with a high score close to rank A. Efforts are underway to upgrade the journal from rank B to rank A and to achieve indexing in Scopus. Decisions in this regard will be finalized and announced following discussions with the editorial team. At present, the journal’s website, including sections such as “Contact Us,” “Journal Information,” “Guide for Authors,” and “Reviewers,” is undergoing revision and updating. Simultaneously, efforts are being made to maintain the quality of published papers while streamlining and improving the peer-review process.
In volume 78, Issue 4 of the journal, eight papers were published, including three papers in the field of wood science and five papers in forestry. Considering the importance of wood cultivation in Iran, Sepasi et al., researchers from the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, addressed the production of salinity-resistant poplar (Populus alba) seedlings. Rahimian et al., from the Department of Forestry at Guilan University, investigated the effects of forest stand structural dynamics on aboveground carbon stock and carbon sequestration in managed and unmanaged forests of Tiromrood, Tonekabon County, over three decades (2004–2024). They proposed single-tree selective logging as a more suitable method than group-tree selective logging for preserving species diversity in the natural forests of northern Iran. Salarvand Shamsi et al., researchers from the Faculty of Natural Resources at the University of Tehran, examined the radial growth of beech trees at different altitudes in the Kheyrud Educational and Research Forest near Nowshahr County. They emphasized that understanding factors influencing radial growth is essential for forest management planning and for assessing the resilience of forest ecosystems to climate change. Given the importance of selecting species with low invasive potential and minimal allelopathic effects for afforestation in arid and desert regions of Iran, Moslehi et al., from the Hormozgan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, the University of Hormozgan, and the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, studied the effects of native (Prosopis cineraria) and non-native (Prosopis juliflora) species on the germination and early growth of Taverniera spartea in Sirik County, Hormozgan Province. Finally, in the paper entitled “Root system architecture of beech (Fagus orientalis) seedlings: applications in bioengineering,” Ramezani and Abdi, from the Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, reported that the lateral and vertical development of beech seedling root systems is greater than that of mature trees. They concluded that beech seedlings are therefore well suited for afforestation and reforestation projects with bioengineering objectives, particularly for determining appropriate planting distances.
The identification and production of new lignocellulosic raw materials are essential for sustaining the supply chain of materials used by the wood and paper industries. Among the papers published in this issue in the field of wood products, two addressed the production of cellulose and non-cellulosic materials, while another applied nanotechnology as an emerging approach to improve the quality of wood products. In the paper by Mousavi et al., researchers from Tarbiat Modares University and Behbahan Khatam Alanbia University of Technology proposed an efficient and low-cost index for the qualitative evaluation of various types of nano-fibrillated lignocellulose. In the study by Asadi et al., from Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cellulose extracted from the green macroalga Cladophora sp. were investigated, highlighting its potential as a sustainable, environmentally friendly, and high-purity source for cellulose production. In the paper by Kord et al., researchers from the Research Center of Chemistry and Petrochemistry at the Standard Research Institute employed nanoparticles to enhance the wear resistance and mechanical properties of polyvinyl chloride–wood flour composites.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the editorial board, associate editors, production editor, reviewers, literary and English language editors, and the respected authors. We also acknowledge the support and cooperation of the director-in-charge, the executive vice president of the Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, and other colleagues for the timely publication of Volume 78, Issue 4. The journal remains ready to publish timely manuscripts resulting from valuable research achievements across a wide range of topics in wood and forestry science.