Threats and Challenges for the Study and Conservation of Freshwater Zooplankton Biodiversity
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Freshwater Biodiversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2026 | Viewed by 30
Special Issue Editors
2. Departamento de Biología, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela
Interests: freshwater zooplankton ecology; biodiversity; rotifers; cladocerans; copepods; planktonic food webs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Among the components of the freshwater biota, zooplankton play an essential and widely recognized role in the structuring and functioning of these ecosystems. However, we are just beginning to understand their biodiversity and contributions to ecosystem services, which have been historically underestimated and undervalued, similarly to other tiny living organisms. This situation, which occurs in the context of a marked global and freshwater biodiversity crisis, represented by the scarcity of specialists, limited research funds, and loss of habitats and their biodiversity, made evident significant threats and challenges to the knowledge and conservation of freshwater zooplankton biodiversity and their habitats.
This Special Issue, dedicated to the threats, challenges, and conservation of freshwater zooplankton biodiversity, will cover a wide range of topics, including local, regional, and global threats and challenges to the study of biodiversity at any level, from the whole zooplankton community to a specific focus on protozoans, rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, and other components less frequently studied, such as acari, ostracods, and Chaoboridae larvae. We welcome papers that address the theoretical, methodological, and academic challenges to enhancing the knowledge of freshwater zooplankton biodiversity and conservation or promote their use as a tool or component for plans and policies aimed at the conservation of freshwater habitats.
Dr. Carlos López
Dr. Claudia Bonecker
Guest Editors
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
- cladocerans
- rotifers
- copepods
- plankton
- freshwater environments
- biodiversity
- conservation
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