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Diversity
Special Issues
Diversity, Ecology and Conservation of Zooplankton
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Diversity, Ecology and Conservation of Zooplankton

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 2948

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Raquel Jiménez-Melero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: mediterranean wetlands; wetlands conservation; zooplankton ecology; ecotoxicology
Dr. Juan Diego Gilbert

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Jaén, Campus de las Lagunillas, s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Interests: aquatic biodiversity; conservation; metacommunity; wetlands; zooplankton
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue of Diversity focused on zooplankton, a key group in the aquatic ecosystems since they are a link between primary producers and secondary consumers. Everything about these organisms is fascinating, from their beauty to their complex life cycles and ecology.

Zooplankton occur around the world, from the Artic to the tropics, inhabiting all kinds of environments, such as small vernal pools, hypersaline lakes and, of course, the vast ocean. Where there is water, even if it is very little, it is possible to find zooplankton. Their colonization capacity is such that we can find them in small humid habitats, such as leaf litter, holes in trees and sphagnum mats. They are everywhere, in groundwater, hot springs, caves; they can even travel throughout time, thanks to their resting structures capable of remaining dormant for decades and centuries. Given the great diversity of environments to which they have adapted, it is easy to imagine that the number of zooplankton species in the world is huge, beyond measure even.

As would be expected in the current context of global climate change, the threats to these organisms are multiple and synergistic: the warming and acidification of the waters; eutrophication; contamination by pesticides, drugs, plastics, etc.; biological invasions; the destruction of wetlands; all these threats are endangering one of the key components of the aquatic food webs. Therefore, improving the scientific knowledge surrounding these organisms is more necessary than ever. This Special Issue has been created with that objective in mind.

Diversity’s team and we kindly invite you to submit a manuscript focused on any aspect of diversity, ecology and conservation of zooplankton, from specific case studies to reviews. All levels of organization are welcome, that is, species autoecology, population dynamics and community studies. Likewise, manuscripts dealing with both marine and freshwater species are welcome. If you are interested in this opportunity or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Prof. Dr. Raquel Jiménez-Melero
Dr. Juan Diego Gilbert
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

  • freshwater zooplankton
  • marine zooplankton
  • life history
  • population/community dynamics
  • egg bank
  • ecological modelling
  • diversity conservation
  • ecotoxicology
  • non-native species
  • global change

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 9810 KiB  
Article
Biodiversity and Possible Bio-Indicators of Mediterranean Temporary Ponds in Southern Apulia, Italy
by Leonardo Beccarisi, Vincenzo Zuccarello, Rita Accogli and Genuario Belmonte
Diversity 2024, 16(9), 559; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16090559 - 7 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1472
Abstract
Mediterranean Temporary Ponds (MTPs) represent a priority habitat according to Directive 92/43/EEC (Natura 2000 code: 3170*). These are very shallow water habitats only seasonally flooded, with a flora mainly composed of Mediterranean therophytic and geophytic species. Its extreme seasonality and small size make [...] Read more.
Mediterranean Temporary Ponds (MTPs) represent a priority habitat according to Directive 92/43/EEC (Natura 2000 code: 3170*). These are very shallow water habitats only seasonally flooded, with a flora mainly composed of Mediterranean therophytic and geophytic species. Its extreme seasonality and small size make this habitat highly vulnerable and hard to manage. In recent Italian monitoring campaigns, the conservation status of MTP 3170* was considered inadequate. In Apulia, where the habitat is considered as “the most vulnerable type”, 73 sites were censused, with a total coverage of about 10,000 m2. The present work refers to the monitoring for three years of a total of 16 habitat 3170* sites, with the aim of better describing faunal indicator species for this priority habitat. A total of 158 taxa of flora and 103 of fauna were identified from 54 floristic and 44 faunistic samplings in total, with a robust updating of the listed biodiversity. For the first time a group of faunal species is proposed as an indicator of the habitat MTP 3170*. The conservation status, assessed on the basis of structural and functional criteria, gave a satisfactory status for seven sites and an unsatisfactory one (variously rated as inadequate or bad) for nine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Ecology and Conservation of Zooplankton)
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23 pages, 9226 KiB  
Article
Elucidating the Disrupted Seasonal Cycle of Eodiaptomus japonicus (Calanoida, Copepoda) in Lake Biwa: Insights from an Individual-Based Model
by Amane Takahashi, Syuhei Ban, Xin Liu, Sami Souissi, Tomohiro Oda and Gaël Dur
Diversity 2024, 16(6), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16060309 - 21 May 2024
Viewed by 798
Abstract
The seasonal fluctuations of the copepod Eodiaptomus japonicus, which dominates the zooplankton community of Lake Biwa, have been disrupted several times over the past 45 years. The aim of this study was to clarify the primary environmental factor that caused the disrupted [...] Read more.
The seasonal fluctuations of the copepod Eodiaptomus japonicus, which dominates the zooplankton community of Lake Biwa, have been disrupted several times over the past 45 years. The aim of this study was to clarify the primary environmental factor that caused the disrupted seasonal cycle in population density of E. japonicus. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the disruption in their seasonal cycle was due to the impacts of water temperature, food conditions, and predator pressure, using an individual-based model (IBM). Based on the experimental data from the literature, we described the growth and reproduction of E. japonicus using temperature- and food-dependent functions. Previously, the developmental time of this species was expressed using Bělehrádek’s equation. In this study, we applied the Kontodimas equation, which successfully reproduced the effects of food scarcity at higher temperatures. Additionally, the influence of predators was incorporated into the survival rate of adult individuals. The long-term data set of Lake Biwa was input into the developed model to simulate the population fluctuations during the disruption period (1975–1979) and stable period (1995–1999) of their seasonal cycle. The combination of environmental data to be input was (1) water temperature, food availability, and predators; (2) water temperature and food availability; and (3) water temperature and predators. Disruptions in the seasonal cycle of the population were only observed in scenario (1) during the disruption period simulation, suggesting that the disrupted seasonal cycle of this species in Lake Biwa may have been caused by the effects of both food condition and predators. The results of simulation scenarios (2) and (3) indicated that predators have a stronger impact on the population than food availability. This time, we used common and simple indicators to describe food conditions and predators, but the model can be improved to be more complex and accurate as more data become available. Such models are important tools for understanding the relationship between environmental factors and the dynamics of diaptomid copepod populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity, Ecology and Conservation of Zooplankton)
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