Environmental Contaminants and Aquatic Life Under Pressure

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2026 | Viewed by 61

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystems Research, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
Interests: marine ecology; anthropogenic impacts

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Guest Editor
Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
Interests: conservation biology; marine turtles; ecotoxicology

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Guest Editor
School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
Interests: marine and estuarine ecology; environmental management; ecotoxicology; animal physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatic pollution is a pervasive and multifaceted environmental challenge encompassing a wide spectrum of stressors, including organic contaminants, trace elements, and anthropogenic debris, as well as emerging concerns such as noise and light pollution. These pollutants originate from diverse anthropogenic sources and exhibit complex temporal and spatial variability across marine environments. Their cumulative and interacting effects can significantly influence the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, from physiological stress responses in individual organisms to broader impacts on population dynamics and ecosystem health.

Understanding the sources, transport pathways, and fates of these pollutants requires interdisciplinary approaches that integrate chemistry, ecology, oceanography, and environmental management. Quantifying pollution levels and disentangling their combined effects remain critical for accurately assessing ecological risk and informing mitigation strategies. Despite growing awareness, substantial knowledge gaps persist in linking pollutant exposure to ecological outcomes and in evaluating the effectiveness of management interventions.

This Special Issue seeks contributions that advance the understanding of aquatic pollution in its various forms and scales. Topics of interest include the identification and quantification of pollutant sources; analysis of spatial and temporal trends; investigation of biological and ecological impacts; and the development of innovative monitoring, modelling, and remediation approaches.

Dr. Caitlin E. Smith
Dr. Kimberly A. Finlayson
Dr. Jason Van de Merwe
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Environments 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 1800 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

  • aquatic pollution
  • anthropogenic debris
  • ecotoxicology
  • risk assessments
  • environmental stressors
  • organic contaminants
  • trace elements
  • noise pollution
  • light pollution

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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