Aquatic Invasions in a Changing World: From Ecological Impacts to System Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to advance understanding of the ecological impacts of invasive aquatic species across marine and freshwater systems, with a particular focus on how these impacts are being reshaped by global environmental change. While the ecological consequences of biological invasions have been widely documented, most of the existing literature has treated invasions as relatively static processes, often assessed through species-specific or site-specific case studies. In contrast, this Special Issue positions aquatic invasions as dynamic, context-dependent phenomena, increasingly driven by climate extremes, pollution, infrastructure expansion, and accelerating human connectivity across aquatic realms.

The scope encompasses marine, coastal, estuarine, and inland waters, explicitly encouraging comparative and cross-system perspectives. Contributions will examine how invasive species alter ecosystem structure, function, and services, from microbiomes and trophic networks to biogeochemical cycling and food web stability. The Special Issue will also highlight next-generation approaches for detecting and quantifying impacts, including environmental DNA, automated monitoring, remote sensing, and trait-based or network-based frameworks.

Situated at the intersection of invasion ecology, global change biology, and aquatic management, this collection seeks to move beyond descriptive accounts of invasions toward mechanistic, predictive, and policy-relevant insights. By integrating ecological theory with emerging technologies and governance perspectives, the Special Issue aims to clarify when, where, and why invasive aquatic species drive ecosystem transformation, and how this knowledge can inform prevention, early detection, and adaptive management under rapidly changing environmental conditions.

I am pleased to invite you to contribute to an upcoming Special Issue entitled “Aquatic Invasions in a Changing World: From Ecological Impacts to System Transformation”, which will bring together cutting-edge research from marine and freshwater systems to address how biological invasions are reshaping aquatic ecosystems under rapid global change.

The aim of this Special Issue is to move beyond classical, static views of invasions and to highlight emerging, process-based, and policy-relevant perspectives. We particularly welcome contributions that explore how invasive species interact with climate extremes, pollution, infrastructure expansion, and socio-ecological systems, leading to non-linear impacts and, in some cases, persistent ecosystem transformations.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Climate extremes and invasion pulses, examining how heatwaves, droughts, floods, or hypoxia trigger rapid establishment and impact amplification;
2. Novel ecosystems, where invasions combined with global change drive durable shifts in ecosystem structure, function, and feedbacks;
3. Next-generation surveillance, including eDNA, metabarcoding, artificial intelligence, automated imaging, and remote sensing to detect and quantify impacts;
4. Emerging and underappreciated vectors, such as biofouling, aquaculture, offshore infrastructure, and the blue economy;
5. Pollution–invasion interactions, including plastics as dispersal substrates, biofilm habitats, and stressors modifying biotic interactions;
6. Multi-level ecological impacts, from microbiomes and trophic networks to ecosystem functioning and services;
7. Invasions and disease dynamics, including pathogen co-introduction, spillover/spillback, and aquatic One Health perspectives;
8. Equity, governance, and policy pathways, linking ecological impacts to prevention, management, and international biodiversity targets; and
9. Methodological and conceptual syntheses, aiming to standardize impact metrics, improve reproducibility, and enhance transferability across systems.

We welcome original research articles, meta-analyses, methodological papers, syntheses, and perspectives that contribute to a coherent and forward-looking understanding of invasive aquatic species and their ecological consequences. By integrating theory, data, and emerging tools, this Special Issue aims to inform both science and management in a rapidly changing world.

We hope you will consider submitting your work and contributing to this collective effort.

With best regards,

Prof. Dr. Rodolphe Elie Gozlan
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 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-anonymized 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.

• aquatic biological invasions
• global environmental change
• climate extremes
• ecosystem functioning
• environmental DNA (eDNA)
• novel ecosystems
• one health