Freshwater Fishes: Taxonomic Diversity, Conservation Concerns, and Future Directions

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce our call for papers for a Special Issue of Fishes entitled, “Freshwater Fishes: Taxonomic Diversity, Conservation Concerns, and Future Directions”.

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most biodiverse and rapidly degraded on the planet. In the context of habitat loss, freshwater fishes are currently in peril. This Special Issue will focus on research that informs not only taxonomic decisions but conservation action, the assessment of future risks, and strategies to preserve diversity. The ecological functionality and adaptive capacity of fish communities in lotic and lentic environments need to be explored in greater depth. We welcome work that connects evolutionary and ecological knowledge with practical conservation priorities and planning for the future.

Submissions that directly address implications for short- and long-term conservation and management will be prioritized. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Conservation status and monitoring: risk assessments, population trend indicators, and effective monitoring methods;
• Responses to global change: the combined effects of climate change, alterations to water regimes, pollution, and the increase in extreme events on distribution, phenology, and persistence;
• Fragmentation and connectivity: consequences of dams, water extraction, and habitat alterations for metapopulations and recolonization processes;
• Invasive species and diseases: ecological and evolutionary impacts, interactions with native species, and control strategies;
• Restoration and adaptive management: the evaluation of habitat restoration techniques, translocations, reintroductions, and evidence-based strategies for population recovery;
• Future forecasting: the modeling of risk projections, conservation scenarios, identification of climate refuges, and spatial prioritization for conservation;
• Policy, governance, and social dimensions: the integration of science and management, traditional knowledge, socio-economic incentives, and cross-border governance;
• Innovative methods applied to conservation: genomics applied to management, eDNA for surveillance, telemetry for connectivity, the integration of remote sensing data, and ecological models for decision support.

We welcome original research papers and reviews that offer recommendations applicable to conservation. This Special Issue is aimed at researchers, water resource managers, policymakers, and conservation organizations interested in evidence-based solutions to protect freshwater fish.

Dr. Luisa Maria Sarmento-Soares
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. Fishes 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 2600 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.

• taxonomy
• conservation genetics
• connectivity
• freshwater biodiversity
• habitat restoration
• climate change
• population viability
• invasive species management
• environmental DNA
• adaptive management
• threat assessment