Special Issue "Aquatic Ecology for Sustainability: Priorities, Approaches, and Partnerships for Management and Conservation of Freshwaters"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zeb Hogan
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Interests: conservation biology; aquatic ecology; fisheries; environmental education; science communication
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Ngor Peng Bun
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI), PO Box 582, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Interests: fish migration; aquatic ecology; community ecology; biological diversity; catch assessment; freshwater fisheries

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater ecosystems provide valuable services, including clean water for human use, fisheries, and sediment transport. Despite their importance, aquatic habitats are increasingly at risk from human impacts that result in degraded ecosystems, lost benefits for humans, and imperiled wildlife. The aim of this Special Issue is to present advances in the sustainability of aquatic ecology, with a focus on rivers and lakes. We are interested in accounts of research on how to maintain critical ecosystem services and biodiversity and inform sustainable development of threatened riverine ecosystems for the benefit of humans and aquatic life.

Contributions are welcome on topics such as new approaches to fish, wildlife, and environmental monitoring, especially in the establishment of baselines and trends; research on water quality, flow, and nutrient transport with a focus on the impacts of dams and other anthropogenic stressors; and studies of relationships between human activities and trends in aquatic biodiversity, in particular, freshwater fish and associated fisheries. These approaches can be informed by participatory research, local knowledge, and citizen science. We encourage research incorporating data sharing initiatives and cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary partnerships. Literature reviews, field-based research, case studies, and commentaries are all welcome.

Dr. Zeb Hogan
Dr. Ngor Peng Bun
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 papers will be 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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 1900 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

  • ecosystem function 
  • environmental flows 
  • adaptive management 
  • impact assessments 
  • trade-off analysis 
  • fish monitoring 
  • fish assemblage dynamics 
  • fish diversity 
  • fish growth and population trends 
  • water quality 
  • fisheries policy and governance 
  • freshwater protected areas 
  • fish reserves

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Communication
Do Morphological Traits Predict Ecological Guilds of the Mekong Fish Fauna?
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8401; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158401 - 28 Jul 2021
Viewed by 700
Abstract
Southeast Asian riverine fishes are classified into three guilds (‘black’, ‘white’ and ‘grey’ species) based on their reproductive and migration strategies. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether fish morphology could be used to predict the Mekong fish guilds. Nine dimensionless ratios [...] Read more.
Southeast Asian riverine fishes are classified into three guilds (‘black’, ‘white’ and ‘grey’ species) based on their reproductive and migration strategies. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether fish morphology could be used to predict the Mekong fish guilds. Nine dimensionless ratios of fish morphological traits were used to describe the locomotion and food acquisition strategies of 121 fish species. The links between morphological traits and fish guilds were assessed using a principal component analysis (PCA) and a variance partitioning analysis, which revealed a strong morphological overlap between the guilds. Despite the high contribution of intra-guild variability to overall morphological variability (~90%), black and white fish significantly differed in terms of locomotion-related traits. Mekong fish guilds were satisfactorily predicted by using a random forest (RF) model, which produced a percentage of successful classification of ca 50% for each of the three guilds. Caudal propulsion efficiency, pectoral fin vertical position and body elongation were the most significant traits in the RF predictive model. Although the present study provides initial insight into the links between Mekong fish morphology and ecological guilds, further research is needed in order to clarify the relationship between species morphology, migratory status and responses to environmental variation. Full article
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