Ecology and Conservation of Marine Megafauna—2nd Edition
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity Conservation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026 | Viewed by 53
Special Issue Editor
Interests: bycatch; climate variability; ecosystem approach; fisheries management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Since ancient times, humans have been fascinated with the great creatures or “monsters” that populate the known seas (e.g., Homer’s Odyssey). However, there is still no clear consensus regarding the definition of marine megafauna, although scientists agree that it comprises all large-bodied organisms, usually including mantas, sharks, sea turtles, seals, cetaceans, and seabirds, not only vertebrates, but also large invertebrates, or the largest species within their group. Nevertheless, there is unanimous scientific consensus regarding the fact that marine megafauna is in decline globally, leading to rising concern worldwide.
Many studies have highlighted the important ecological role of marine megafauna and its provision of ecosystem services to humanity.
Thus, it is particularly important to understand the main factors involved in the decline of these species, such as bycatch, climate change, and pollution, among other factors.
This Special Issue is focused on research, case studies, methodology improvement, and reviews that examine the following issues:
- Bycatch (including methodologies to reduce bycatch);
- Conservation policies and priorities;
- Ecological risk assessment;
- Ecosystem approach;
- Effects of climate change;
- Handling techniques and good practices;
- Population management;
- Marine protected areas;
- Migration, population monitoring, and tagging studies;
- Modeling spatial distribution;
- Local abundance;
- Post-release survival estimation.
Dr. José Carlos Báez
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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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
- bycatch
- climate variability
- ecological risk assessment
- ecosystem approach
- conservation management
- marine protected areas
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