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Diversity
Special Issues
The Impact of Ecocide on Diversity
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The Impact of Ecocide on Diversity

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Diversity and Culture Collections".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1155

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ipek Kurtboke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4558, Australia
Interests: microbial ecology and diversity; microbial systematics; biodiscovery; microbial biotechnology applied; environmental and industrial microbiology; marine microbiology; biological control; actinomycetology; bacteriophages
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diversity, which encompasses genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity, is the cornerstone of resilience and stability in natural systems. Ecocide poses a severe threat to the diversity of life on Earth and disrupts this diversity by causing widespread habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.

Genetic diversity within species allows populations to adapt to changing conditions, ensuring their survival and evolution. However, ecocide reduces genetic variation by fragmenting populations and exposing them to increased risks of extinction. Similarly, species diversity, the variety of species within an ecosystem, is crucial for maintaining ecological balance. When ecocide leads to the loss of species, it disrupts the interactions and dependencies that sustain ecosystems.

Furthermore, ecosystem diversity, which refers to the variety of ecosystems within a region, is also compromised by ecocide. The loss of diverse ecosystems reduces the capacity of natural systems to recover from disturbances and adapt to change. This, in turn, impacts human well-being.

In this Special Issue, we will explore the intricate relationship between ecocide and diversity, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts to mitigate the impacts of ecocide and preserve the diversity of life on Earth.

Dr. Ipek Kurtboke
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. Diversity 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 2100 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

  • ecocide
  • biodiversity
  • genetic diversity
  • species diversity
  • ecosystem diversity
  • environmental conservation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5092 KiB  
Article
Local Variation in Ground Arthropod Diversity Rises as Distance to Residential Areas Decreases in a Mature Evergreen Forest
by Jing Su, Meili Wang, Hui Liu, Wenqi Shang, Fanfang Zhou, Haochen Cao, Jinwen Pan, Yang Zeng, Kun Xu and Ganghua Li
Diversity 2025, 17(5), 344; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17050344 - 13 May 2025
Viewed by 241
Abstract
Ground-dwelling arthropods interact with vertebrates, plants, detritus, and microbes as important players in forest ecosystems. Human disturbance threatens the diversity of forest arthropods, with varied impacts on different taxa. However, we understand little of the impact of human disturbance on overwintering ground-dwelling arthropod [...] Read more.
Ground-dwelling arthropods interact with vertebrates, plants, detritus, and microbes as important players in forest ecosystems. Human disturbance threatens the diversity of forest arthropods, with varied impacts on different taxa. However, we understand little of the impact of human disturbance on overwintering ground-dwelling arthropod diversity in mature subtropical evergreen forests. In order to test how ground-dwelling arthropod diversity varies by the distance to residential areas, we set 108 pitfall traps along four 100 m transects beginning near residential areas along the edges of a mature subtropical evergreen forest in Central China. We collected 30,616 arthropods, representing 96 morphospecies. The results show that the Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou’s evenness indices, as well as the effective number of species at α = 1 and 2, decrease when the pitfall traps are within 60 m of the residential areas. Moreover, the coefficients of variation in these three indices are higher at the sites closer to the residential areas by 11.54–17.72%. Such high variations in these widely used diversity and evenness indices indicate that estimation bias in arthropod diversity is more likely to occur at sites closer to residential areas. We suggest that different aspects of community composition should be studied to assess the effects of human disturbance on ground-dwelling arthropod diversity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Ecocide on Diversity)
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24 pages, 11615 KiB  
Article
Determination of Dispersal Corridors Used by Large Mammals Between Close Habitats
by Göktuğ Uzun and Özkan Evcin
Diversity 2025, 17(3), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17030165 - 26 Feb 2025
Viewed by 568
Abstract
In recent years, due to the expansion of cities, the transformation of agricultural areas, the forestry activities carried out solely for wood production, and the spread of transportation networks, natural habitats have become increasingly fragmented, and suitable habitats for wildlife are rapidly decreasing. [...] Read more.
In recent years, due to the expansion of cities, the transformation of agricultural areas, the forestry activities carried out solely for wood production, and the spread of transportation networks, natural habitats have become increasingly fragmented, and suitable habitats for wildlife are rapidly decreasing. As a result, natural areas are being divided, connections are being cut off, species’ living spaces are shrinking, and species and habitats are being isolated. This fragmentation significantly hinders the natural movements of large mammals (Ursus arctos, Sus scrofa, and Canis lupus), leading to reduced genetic diversity and threatening the long-term viability of their populations. This research, conducted in the Ballıdağ and Kurtgirmez regions of the Western Black Sea Region of Türkiye, aimed to determine the movement corridors of the brown bear (Ursus arctos), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and wolf (Canis lupus) in the area and to evaluate the habitat connections for these species. This study relied on data obtained through field studies and the previous literature. Ecological modeling was used with the Maximum Entropy Method (MaxEnt) to understand the relationships between these species and environmental variables, and the barriers posed by the latter. Ecological corridor maps were created to evaluate the effects of habitat fragmentation in the region and species’ potential to maintain critical connection points despite this fragmentation using Circuitscape software based on the Circuit Theory approach. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the AUC values were between 0.75 and 0.8; the most important variables in the models were road density, vegetation, and elevation; focal points and resistance surface areas were determined for three large mammal species; and important ecological corridors were defined between the Ballıdağ and Kurtgirmez regions. This study revealed that preserving habitat connections and reducing fragmentation is critical for the long-term existence of predator species and ecosystem health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Ecocide on Diversity)
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