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Benthic Ecology in Coastal and Brackish Systems—2nd Edition
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Benthic Ecology in Coastal and Brackish Systems—2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2025) | Viewed by 1466

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Panagiotis D. Dimitriou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Crete, GR 70013 Heraklion, Greece
Interests: benthic ecology; macrofauna; ecological status assessment; anthropogenic effects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A significant proportion of marine anthropogenic activities take place in the coastal zone, thereby inducing changes in marine communities and ecosystems. In order to maintain the goods and services provided by coastal ecosystems, monitoring indicators and management schemes have been adopted in different parts of the world, such as the European Water Framework Directive or the Clean Water Act in North America. All these regulatory frameworks aim to provide the tools for the assessment of ecosystem condition or health based on the measurement of different abiotic or biotic elements (e.g., nutrients, chlorophyll a, benthic macrofauna, angiosperms, chemical contamination, bacteria). On the other hand, it is understood that benthic ecological possesses are of great importance for the maintenance of ecosystem status in coastal ecosystems. Although both issues (ecological status indicators and ecological processes) have been extensively studied in the scientific literature, the quantitative link between the two has not been adequately addressed.

The primary aim of this special issue is to explore the relation between ecosystem health as quantified by monitoring tools developed in the context of different directives and benthic ecosystem processes, functions, and geochemical variables in the coastal zone. Specifically, we invite field studies or experiments linking ecosystem health and functions, both of which may be assessed via different tools, organisms, elements, or analyses, as long as the link between the two is described and quantified. The status of the ecosystems should not be the result of the study, but it can be used as a “factor” in different types of analyses, and then geochemical variables, fluxes, or other types of ecological processes should be compared between different levels of ecological status. The assessment of ecological status may be based on different methodologies, depending on the characteristics and objectives of the study.

Dr. Panagiotis D. Dimitriou
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. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 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.

Keywords

  • ecological status
  • ecosystem status
  • benthic ecology
  • anthropogenic effects
  • biological trait analysis
  • marine biodiversity
  • marine functional diversity
  • benthic indicators

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 13635 KiB  
Article
Microplastics in Nearshore and Subtidal Sediments in the Salish Sea: Implications for Marine Habitats and Exposure
by Frances K. Eshom-Arzadon, Kaitlyn Conway, Julie Masura and Matthew R. Baker
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(8), 1441; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13081441 - 28 Jul 2025
Viewed by 469
Abstract
Plastic debris is a pervasive and persistent threat to marine ecosystems. Microplastics (plastics < 5 mm) are increasing in a variety of marine habitats, including open water systems, shorelines, and benthic sediments. It remains unclear how microplastics distribute and accumulate in marine systems [...] Read more.
Plastic debris is a pervasive and persistent threat to marine ecosystems. Microplastics (plastics < 5 mm) are increasing in a variety of marine habitats, including open water systems, shorelines, and benthic sediments. It remains unclear how microplastics distribute and accumulate in marine systems and the extent to which this pollutant is accessible to marine taxa. We examined subtidal benthic sediments and beach sediments in critical nearshore habitats for forage fish species—Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), and surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus)—to quantify microplastic concentrations in the spawning and deep-water habitats of these fish and better understand how microplastics accumulate and distribute in nearshore systems. In the San Juan Islands, we examined an offshore subtidal bedform in a high-flow channel and beach sites of protected and exposed shorelines. We also examined 12 beach sites proximate to urban areas in Puget Sound. Microplastics were found in all samples and at all sample sites. Microfibers were the most abundant, and flakes were present proximate to major shipyards and marinas. Microplastics were significantly elevated in Puget Sound compared to the San Juan Archipelago. Protected beaches had elevated concentrations relative to exposed beaches and subtidal sediments. Microplastics were in higher concentrations in sand and fine-grain sediments, poorly sorted sediments, and artificial sediments. Microplastics were also elevated at sites confirmed as spawning habitats for forage fish. The model results indicate that both current speed and proximate urban populations influence nearshore microplastic concentrations. Our research provides new insights into how microplastics are distributed, deposited, and retained in marine sediments and shorelines, as well as insight into potential exposure in benthic, demersal, and shoreline habitats. Further analyses are required to examine the relative influence of urban populations and shipping lanes and the effects of physical processes such as wave exposure, tidal currents, and shoreline geometry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Benthic Ecology in Coastal and Brackish Systems—2nd Edition)
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32 pages, 5647 KiB  
Article
Tidal Exclusion Barriers Fragment an Invertebrate Community into Taxonomically and Functionally Distinct Estuarine and Wetland Assemblages
by Sorcha Cronin-O’Reilly, Alan Cottingham, Linda H. Kalnejais, Kath Lynch and James R. Tweedley
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(4), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13040635 - 22 Mar 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 594
Abstract
Various types of tidal barriers are used in estuaries to reduce saltwater intrusion and regulate freshwater discharge, but they often alter the physicochemical environment and faunal composition. With the use of these structures expected to increase due to climate change, there is a [...] Read more.
Various types of tidal barriers are used in estuaries to reduce saltwater intrusion and regulate freshwater discharge, but they often alter the physicochemical environment and faunal composition. With the use of these structures expected to increase due to climate change, there is a need to understand their impacts. A tidal exclusion barrier in the Ramsar-listed Vasse–Wonnerup Estuary (Australia) was found to act as an ecotone, fragmenting the estuarine gradient into two distinct components, a relatively stable marine-like environment downstream and a highly variable oligohaline to hypersaline (~0 to >100 ppt) environment upstream. The downstream regions contained a speciose and functionally rich estuarine fauna, comprising mainly polychaetes and bivalves. The upstream regions were taxonomically and functionally depauperate, containing insects, gastropods, and ostracods typically found in saline wetlands. The fragmentation of the estuary has likely impacted the provision of ecosystem services, with the fauna downstream mainly comprising burrowing species that bioturbate and, thus, aid in nutrient cycling. In contrast, the environmental conditions caused by the barrier and the resultant epifaunal invertebrate assemblages upstream aid little in bioturbation, but provide nutrition for avian fauna. These results may help in understanding the impacts of constructing new barriers in coastal ecosystems in response to climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Benthic Ecology in Coastal and Brackish Systems—2nd Edition)
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