Marine Ecology Conservation: Analysis for Habitat and Species Studies

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the awareness of the need to apply conservation measures to the marine environment has been increasing. However, the tools for turning the scientific community’s indications into formal and effective measures are still poorly defined. The species of conservational interest included in the directives do not always respond to changing anthropogenic pressures. Increasing our knowledge of the characterization of habitats and the ecology of the species associated with them is essential in order to best direct conservation efforts.

The presence of certain species can serve as evidence for identifying a particular habitat in the marine environment, and differentiating between flagship, indicator, keystone, priority, and charismatic species is crucial to marine ecology conservation. It is important to find the right balance between conservation and socio-economic needs and determine when to protect the species and when to protect the habitat.

Contributions to this Special Issue are invited across all areas of marine habitat research, future scenarios, and actions aimed at habitat and species conservation, including, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Environmental status assessment for habitats and associated species;
• Assessing the effectiveness of MPAs;
• Portals and databases for spatial data management and habitat mapping;
• Habitat suitability modeling—benefits and limitations;
• Habitat and species diversity across spatial and bathymetric gradients;
• Habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss—direct and indirect impacts;
• Structural and functional connectivity for supporting conservation;
• Habitat and species resilience;
• Habitat-forming species and their strategic role in conservation;
• Flagship, indicator, keystone, priority, and charismatic species;
• Ecology and physiology of species of conservational interest (feeding, reproduction, life cycle, circadian rhythms, etc.);
• Sampling methods for studying the distribution of charismatic and dominant species—soft vs. hard bottoms;
• Studies for environmental impact assessments.

Dr. Eva Salvati
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.

• habitat and species conservation
• habitat classification
• habitat suitability modeling
• MPA s
• VME indicator species
• biodiversity
• connectivity
• non-distruptive sampling methods
• protected species ecology and physiology
• environmental impact assessment