Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.7
3.5
Journals
Water
Special Issues
Bio-Indicators in Aquatic Ecosystems: Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration and Conservation
water-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Water Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Bio-Indicators in Aquatic Ecosystems: Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration and Conservation

A Special Issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441) belonging to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1297

Editor

Dr. Davide Taurozzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy
Interests: freshwater ecology; diatom; macroinvertebrates; functional ecology; ornithology; plastic pollution; temporary pond; alpine region monitoring; bioindicators

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study and application of biological indicators in aquatic ecosystems has become a cornerstone for assessing water quality, biodiversity, ecological integrity and ecosystem responses to environmental change. Organisms such as diatoms, macroinvertebrates, algae and fish provide sensitive measures of anthropogenic impacts, climate change, habitat degradation and ecological recovery following restoration and management actions. Research in this field is crucial for understanding ecosystem functioning, informing conservation strategies, evaluating restoration effectiveness and supporting the evidence-based management of freshwater and marine systems.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focusing on bio-indicators in aquatic ecosystems. This Special Issue aims to bring together high-quality studies that explore the use of bio-indicators to monitor, assess and reconstruct past and present environmental conditions, as well as to evaluate ecosystem recovery and habitat restoration outcomes. Topics may cover both contemporary ecological assessments and paleolimnological studies, linking biological responses to water quality, habitat integrity, climate impacts and conservation management. The scope of this Special Issue aligns with the journal’s mission, emphasizing environmental monitoring, ecological assessment, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation.

Original research articles and review papers are welcome. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Novel methodologies and protocols for bio-indicator monitoring
  • Multi-taxa and integrated approaches for ecosystem assessment
  • Impacts of climate change and anthropogenic pressures on aquatic communities
  • Biodiversity, conservation, restoration and management of freshwater and marine ecosystems
  • Historical and paleolimnological reconstructions of ecosystem change
  • Functional ecology and ecosystem services of indicator species
  • Ecological monitoring of habitat restoration and ecosystem recovery

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Davide Taurozzi
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. Water 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 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

  • bio-indicators
  • aquatic ecosystems
  • water quality
  • climate change
  • freshwater monitoring
  • paleolimnology
  • bio-diversity
  • ecosystem assessment
  • environmental monitoring
  • ecological indicators

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 1449 KB  
Article
Weak Cross-Assemblage Concordance of Survey-Round Community Dissimilarity in Korean Lotic Waters: A Matched National Biomonitoring Analysis
by Jun-Ho Lee, Byeong-Hun Han, In-Hwan Cho, Su-Ok Hwang and Baik-Ho Kim
Water 2026, 18(17), 2122; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18172122 - 28 Aug 2026
Viewed by 238
Abstract
National biomonitoring programs increasingly survey multiple biological assemblages, but whether one biological element can serve as a surrogate for the magnitude or ranking of repeated-survey compositional displacement remains unresolved under strict site-year-round matching. We analyzed Korean National Aquatic Ecological Monitoring Program records from [...] Read more.
National biomonitoring programs increasingly survey multiple biological assemblages, but whether one biological element can serve as a surrogate for the magnitude or ranking of repeated-survey compositional displacement remains unresolved under strict site-year-round matching. We analyzed Korean National Aquatic Ecological Monitoring Program records from 2011 to 2023 using a strict core of 13,386 site-years from 3016 matched lotic sites in which epilithic diatoms, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish were recorded in both monitoring rounds. For each assemblage separately, we calculated standard Hellinger dissimilarity between Round 1 and Round 2 relative-abundance vectors. Spearman rank concordance was −0.012 (−0.030 to 0.005) for diatom–macroinvertebrate, 0.034 (0.015 to 0.052) for diatom–fish, and −0.014 (−0.034 to 0.005) for macroinvertebrate–fish; corresponding Pearson correlations ranged from −0.010 to 0.041. Within-site-centered associations, correlations among site-level mean dissimilarities, broader pairwise matched datasets, and alternative relative-Euclidean and Bray–Curtis metrics all remained weak. Thus, under the present monitoring design, the magnitude or ranking of between-round compositional displacement in one assemblage provided little information about the corresponding displacement in another. The three assemblages were surveyed by separate specialist teams within the same nationally prescribed round-specific seasonal windows rather than by required same-day co-sampling. The result is therefore interpreted at the operational survey-round scale; temporally linked environmental covariates and the replicate information needed to quantify observation error were not analyzed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Indicators in Aquatic Ecosystems: Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration and Conservation)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

15 pages, 5438 KB  
Article
Response of the Protozoan Community to Physicochemical Gradients in the Upper Soto la Marina River Basin: Implications for the Conservation of Lotic Ecosystems in Northeastern Mexico
by Luis Antonio Vázquez-Ochoa, Jorge Homero Rodríguez-Castro, Sandra Edith Olmeda-de la Fuente, Jorge Alejandro Rodríguez-Olmeda, Uriel Jeshua Sánchez-Reyes, Abimael Bolaños-López and María de la Luz Guevara-Calderón
Water 2026, 18(14), 1708; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18141708 - 15 Jul 2026
Viewed by 353
Abstract
Assessing water quality in lotic ecosystems using biological indicators is essential for their conservation. This study analyzed the influence of physicochemical parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, nitrates, total phosphorus, phosphates, alkalinity, and hardness) on the diversity, abundance, and distribution of protozoa [...] Read more.
Assessing water quality in lotic ecosystems using biological indicators is essential for their conservation. This study analyzed the influence of physicochemical parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, nitrates, total phosphorus, phosphates, alkalinity, and hardness) on the diversity, abundance, and distribution of protozoa at 15 sites in the upper Soto la Marina River basin, Tamaulipas, Mexico, including the Corona, Purificación, Pilón, and San Felipe rivers and the Vicente Guerrero Reservoir. Through bimonthly sampling over the annual cycle of 2021 (February–December), 24 protozoan morphospecies were identified, with dominance of Ciliophora (10 morphospecies) and Amoebozoa (4 morphospecies). Chi-square analyses revealed that morphospecies frequency was significantly dependent on sampling site (χ2 = 246.72, df = 69, p < 0.001) but independent of seasonality (χ2 = 0.86, df = 15, p = 1.0). Beta diversity (Sørensen–Dice index) showed low faunistic similarity among most sites (<60%), suggesting high species turnover and a local environmental filter. Using Outlying Mean Index (OMI) analysis, most morphospecies exhibited a generalist niche (low marginality, high tolerance), showing no significant relationship with the measured environmental variables. However, Vorticella sp. emerged as an exception, showing a significant association (p = 0.0329) and positive correlation with maximum pH and alkalinity values and occurring at sites with high NO3− and PO43− concentrations, suggesting its potential as a bioindicator of organic enrichment conditions in the region. The absence of a strong environmental signal in most species underscores the complexity of these systems and the need to integrate multiple levels of bioindicators. This study provides the first baseline on the protozoan community in the area and discusses its relevance for water quality monitoring in a region of high conservation value, such as the area of influence of the Sierra de Tamaulipas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Indicators in Aquatic Ecosystems: Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration and Conservation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 3076 KB  
Article
Evaluating Ecological Integrity in Andean High-Mountain Streams Using a Multiplicative Water Quality Index: Roles of Seasonal Hydrology and Benthic Assemblages
by Diego Fernando Moreno Pérez, Germán Eduardo Cely Reyes and Pablo Antonio Serrano Cely
Water 2026, 18(13), 1591; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18131591 - 30 Jun 2026
Viewed by 426
Abstract
High-mountain lotic ecosystems in the tropical Andes are increasingly threatened by agricultural expansion and seasonal hydrological variability. This study evaluates structural water quality shifts and benthic macroinvertebrate community assembly across an environmental degradation gradient in the La Chorrera micro-basin (Boyacá, Colombia). A weighted [...] Read more.
High-mountain lotic ecosystems in the tropical Andes are increasingly threatened by agricultural expansion and seasonal hydrological variability. This study evaluates structural water quality shifts and benthic macroinvertebrate community assembly across an environmental degradation gradient in the La Chorrera micro-basin (Boyacá, Colombia). A weighted multiplicative Water Quality Index (mWQI), originally developed in previous literature, was implemented and validated alongside biotic scores (BMWP/Col) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) across 16 sampling points during contrasting wet and dry seasons. The results demonstrate that intense precipitation during the wet season introduces a volumetric dilution effect, maintaining high ecological quality scores (mWQI > 80.0) even in deeply modified agricultural sectors. Conversely, severe baseflow contraction during the dry season triggers pollutant concentration, driving total phosphorus to hyper-eutrophic peaks (9.20 mg/L) and forcing a complete mathematical collapse of the index (mWQI = 0.00). The CCA biplot confirmed that seasonal chemical filters combined with hypoxia (<60% oxygen saturation) eliminate highly responsive macroinvertebrate orders (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera), leading to absolute dominance of hypoxia-tolerant opportunists (Chironomidae and Oligochaeta). The benthic community shifted from physical stress (sedimentation) during the wet season to chemical stress (nutrient toxicity and oxygen depletion) during the dry season. The multiplicative framework effectively isolates localized ecological tipping points, providing a high-sensitivity baseline tool for targeted watershed restoration in tropical alpine regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Indicators in Aquatic Ecosystems: Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration and Conservation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop