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Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystems in the World of Change: From Theory to Environmental Management

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 2929

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia
Interests: aquatic ecosystems; biodiversity; alternative ecosystem states; ecosystem functioning; ecosystem services; environmental management; long-term changes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia
Interests: zoology; crustaceans; aquatic ecosystems; biodiversity; extreme environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Institute for Advanced Marine Research, China University of Geosciences, Guangzhou, China
Interests: phytoplankton; microzooplankton; grazing; diversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

“Ecosystems” and “biodiversity” have become two of the most frequently used words. Currently, we do not have sufficiently constructive and complete definitions of these terms, and biodiversity is more a buzzword than a clear concept, the heart of ecosystem understanding. We live during a time of rapid environmental changes, which largely result from human activities and climate fluctuations. We could mitigate the accelerating rate of habitat loss and species extinctions only by having enough data on biodiversity and an adequate conceptual view of ecosystem functioning and biodiversity coupling. The aquatic environment occupies most of the planet’s area, and this Special issue is dedicated to filling gaps in knowledge and providing information to environmental managers, politicians, and the general public.

The Issue’s main topics include:

  1. Complementarity in an understanding of aquatic ecosystems and their biodiversity;
  2. Biodiversity as a cross-scale and cross-level panarchy;
  3. Biodiversity in unique and rare aquatic habitats (temporal, hypersaline, acidic, alkaliphilic, underground, etc.);
  4. Alternative ecosystem states and shifts in biodiversity;
  5. Man-made water bodies and biodiversity conservation;
  6. Long-term changes in ecosystems and biodiversity;
  7. Ecosystem resources and services. Integrated sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems;
  8. Public awareness of these problems;
  9. Impact of extreme climate events on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems;
  10. Parasites and symbionts: their diversity and ecosystem roles.

Dr. Nickolai Shadrin
Dr. Elena Anufriieva
Prof. Dr. Jun Sun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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

  • aquatic ecosystems
  • biodiversity
  • alternative ecosystem states
  • ecosystem functioning
  • ecosystem services
  • environmental management
  • long-term changes

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 7280 KiB  
Article
Taxonomic Structure of Planktonic Protist Communities in Saline and Hypersaline Continental Waters Revealed by Metabarcoding
by Elena A. Gerasimova, Alexander S. Balkin, Ekaterina S. Filonchikova, Yulia V. Mindolina, Dmitry G. Zagumyonnyi and Denis V. Tikhonenkov
Water 2023, 15(11), 2008; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15112008 - 25 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2345
Abstract
Saline and hypersaline waters are one of the most peculiar ecosystems of our planet, characterized by extreme life conditions. Despite their worldwide distribution, the diversity and abundance of protist communities in these ecosystems remain poorly studied. Here, we analyze planktonic communities of protists [...] Read more.
Saline and hypersaline waters are one of the most peculiar ecosystems of our planet, characterized by extreme life conditions. Despite their worldwide distribution, the diversity and abundance of protist communities in these ecosystems remain poorly studied. Here, we analyze planktonic communities of protists sampled across 38 saline and hypersaline water environments (2–390‰) from arid climatic zones of the South Urals and Crimea in light of environmental data using high-throughput 18S rDNA amplicon sequencing. A total of 9 eukaryotic supergroups, 34 phyla, 104 classes, 184 orders, 315 families and 548 genera have been identified. We revealed significant differences in the taxonomic structure of protist communities depending on salinity, geographic location and pH. The protist communities demonstrated linear regression of richness and diversity and growth of the percentage of unclassified Eukaryota (up to 43%) with the increase in salinity. Centrohelids demonstrated the ability to inhabit a broad range of salinities, up to 320‰, which is four times higher than previously reported. Centrohelid species Pinjata ruminata and Yogsothoth sp. are assumed to be specifically adapted to salinity of 3–210‰. The obtained results provide insight into the taxonomy and diversity of protists in saline and hypersaline environments and highlight the great potential for the discovery of new taxa due to the large number of unclassified 18S rDNA sequences. Full article
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Review

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40 pages, 7319 KiB  
Review
Freshwater Mussels, Ecosystem Services, and Clean Water Regulation in Minnesota: Formulating an Effective Conservation Strategy
by Baishali Bakshi, R. William Bouchard, Jr., Robert Dietz, Daniel Hornbach, Philip Monson, Bernard Sietman and Dennis Wasley
Water 2023, 15(14), 2560; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142560 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7340
Abstract
Freshwater mussels are threatened with extirpation in North America. They are a sentinel species for ecosystem function and contribute towards many ecosystem services. As mussels require clean water to survive, and since conserving ecosystem services is implicit in the federal Clean Water Act, [...] Read more.
Freshwater mussels are threatened with extirpation in North America. They are a sentinel species for ecosystem function and contribute towards many ecosystem services. As mussels require clean water to survive, and since conserving ecosystem services is implicit in the federal Clean Water Act, incorporating mussel conservation into state water policies could serve multiple conservation goals. In this paper we conduct a comprehensive critical review of three topics related to freshwater mussels: their contribution to ecosystem services, their links with water quality, and threats to their survival from water pollutants and extent of protection available from regulation. In so doing, we identify gaps between the water quality requirements of mussels and the protection provided by current water regulation to help inform clean water and conservation goals in Minnesota. We find freshwater mussels to be generally sensitive to a wide variety of pollutants, and particularly to nutrients such as total nitrogen and total phosphorus and to major ions such as chloride. In addition, we find that current state water quality standards may not be sufficiently protective of mussels. We formulate a framework for determining an effective conservation strategy for mussels in Minnesota based on ecological and economic criteria to ensure adequate conservation at a reasonable cost. Full article
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11 pages, 3671 KiB  
Review
Salinity-Dependent Species Richness of Bacillariophyta in Hypersaline Environments
by Daria Balycheva, Elena Anufriieva, Raisa Lee, Alexander Prazukin and Nickolai Shadrin
Water 2023, 15(12), 2252; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15122252 - 16 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2091
Abstract
Hypersaline habitats are among the most polyextreme habitats on Earth, but they contain a rather large diatom species diversity. A review of the diatom species’ richness was made on three scales: 1. a separate lake in Crimea; 2. all hypersaline waters in Crimea; [...] Read more.
Hypersaline habitats are among the most polyextreme habitats on Earth, but they contain a rather large diatom species diversity. A review of the diatom species’ richness was made on three scales: 1. a separate lake in Crimea; 2. all hypersaline waters in Crimea; and 3. the world totality as a whole. In total, 51 species were found in Lake Chersonesskoye during sampling from 2004 to 2018. In ten Crimean hypersaline lakes, 91 species were noted in total. All diatom species found in the studied hypersaline water bodies of the world belong to 458 species, which is 2.7% of the total number of known species of Bacillariophyta. In all three scales, the similarity of the species’ composition between water bodies as well as studied periods was not found. Most of all the identified species were found only in one of the studied water bodies, and only 59 species (13% of the total list) were found in more than three water bodies. An analysis showed that no more than 40% of the species that exist in hypersaline waters have been identified on a global scale. The diatom shell nanostructure from hypersaline waters has specific peculiarities that may be valuable for some technological applications. The knowledge of diatoms in hypersaline waters not only has pure scientific importance but also covers some needs of bio- and nanotechnologies. Full article
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