Eco-Physiology of Shallow Benthic Communities
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 855
Special Issue Editor
Interests: climate change; marine ecology; marine environment; marine biodiversity; conservation biology; coastal ecology; ecosystem ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Marine benthic communities are the structural and functional basis of ecosystems as they participate in nutrient cycles and provide refuge and nourishment for a high diversity of species that contribute to the overall health of marine ecosystems. Their composition as bottom-dwelling organisms can vary from invertebrates to algae, as well as abiotic components such as sand, rocks, and coral matrix. In particular, shallow marine benthic communities such as coral reefs, seagrasses, rocky reefs, and sandy soft bottoms support fisheries, coastal protection, and carbon sequestration and may also act as boundaries and nursery sites. As any marine ecosystem, they are directly influenced by global and local factors such as light, depth, disturbance, grazing, and nutrients, which, in addition to the effects of climate change and anthropogenic stressors such as nutrient runoff, plastic debris, contaminants, overfishing, detrimental touristic activities, and urbanization, may compromise their maintenance and conservation.
For the present Special Issue, submitted manuscripts should be original research articles focused across the broad fields of shallow benthic communities to study their community and functional ecology, physiological approaches to understanding organism and system responses to local, regional, and global changes or stressors, and management and policies that passive or actively contribute to their management or rehabilitation.
Dr. Alma Paola Rodríguez-Troncoso
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
- eco-physiology
- ecosystem rehabilitation
- functional ecology
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
