Aquatic Ecosystem Assessment: Zooplankton
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: zooplankton; community dynamics; river–floodplain complex; anthropogenic pollutants; functional ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: zooplankton; freshwater ecology; community interactions; wastewater treatments
Interests: phytoplankton; phytoplankton ecology; algae culture; freshwater ecology; algal diversity; algology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Contemporary research indicates that zooplankton face simultaneous pressures from environmental change and human-derived pollutants. As key intermediaries between primary producers and higher trophic levels, zooplankton are highly sensitive to environmental shifts and serve as early indicators of ecosystem stress. Changes in zooplankton composition and dynamics are reflected in energy transfer within food webs, control of algal blooms, and nutrient recycling. Studies show that changes in environmental parameters and contaminant exposure interact in complex ways, altering zooplankton physiology, population dynamics, and community composition.
Climate warming is one of the most consistently identified stressors. Higher temperatures affect metabolic rates, growth, reproduction, and survival, with many studies reporting shifts towards smaller, faster-reproducing taxa with greater thermal tolerance. Changing seasonal cues further disrupt phenology and the timing of peak zooplankton abundance. Simultaneously, anthropogenic pollutants, including microplastics, pesticides, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and hydrocarbons, exert overlapping pressures. Zooplankton readily ingest and bioaccumulate contaminants, resulting in reduced feeding efficiency, energy depletion, and impaired reproduction.
This Special Issue will address a wide range of scientific topics related to the emerging consensus that highlights the importance of multiple-stressor interactions, which compromise community resilience, food web function, and reduce niche diversity. Understanding these dynamics is essential for predicting ecosystem stability and informing conservation and management strategies.
Dr. Anita Galir
Dr. Aleksandar Ostojić
Dr. Dubravka Špoljarić Maronić
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 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.
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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
- environmental change
- anthropogenic pollutants
- physiology and reproduction
- bioaccumulation
- multiple-stressor interactions
- ecosystem resilience
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