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Special Issue "Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II"

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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: 25 September 2023 | Viewed by 4925

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pietro Volta

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Guest Editor

Water Research Institute, National Research Council of Italy, IRSA-CNR, Largo Tonolli, 50, 28922 Verbania Pallanza, Italy
Interests: fish ecology; lacustrine food webs; invasive fish species; climate change; freshwater fish conservation; fisheries management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Erik Jeppesen

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark
2. Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences and Centre for Ecosystem Research and Implementation, Middle East Technical University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
Interests: aquatic ecology; biological structure and interactions with the nutrient dynamics and climate in lakes; lake restoration; lake re-establishment; paleoecology; ecosystem modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Vanessa De Santis

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Guest Editor

CNR Water Research Institute, Largo Tonolli 50, 28922 Verbania, Italy
Interests: fish trophic ecology; stable isotopes; invasive species; population genetics; conservation biology; freshwater ecology

Dr. Mustafa Korkmaz
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, 33731 Mersin, Turkey
Interests: fish taxonomy; fish biodiversity; aquatic ecology; molecular phylogenetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fish play a key role in the food web dynamics of freshwater ecosystems as well as in the provision of services for human societies. Despite their importance, freshwater fish all around the world are under multiple pressures of anthropogenic and climatic origin, which often interact with each other. Eutrophication, chemical pollution, overfishing, water abstraction, and river morphology alteration, as well as novel emerging contaminants are only some examples of the pressures impacting freshwater fish.

In this Special Issue, we aim to collect reviews and significant case studies focusing on the impact of human activities and climatic pressure on freshwater fish at different levels of their organization (e.g., species, genus, family, assemblages) in rivers and lakes all around the world and, if available, successful solutions to counteract them. Case studies and reviews can also consider species that only partially spend their lives in freshwater, such as salmon, trout, sturgeons, and eels, but, nevertheless, need freshwater to complete their life cycle.

Dr. Pietro Volta
Prof. Dr. Erik Jeppesen
Dr. Vanessa De Santis
Dr. Mustafa Korkmaz
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 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. 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 2200 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.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Diet and Trophic Structure of the Fish Community in a Small Sub-Tropical Lake in Central Mexico

Arely Ramírez-García

Erik Jeppesen

Rodrigo Moncayo-Estrada

Norman Mercado-Silva

and

Omar Domínguez-Domínguez

Water 2023, 15(7), 1301; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15071301 - 25 Mar 2023

Viewed by 351

Abstract

Analyses of trophic structure and feeding habits of the fish community can provide information on the complex biotic and abiotic interactions in lake ecosystems. Based on stomach content and δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope analyses, we conducted a comprehensive study of the diet of the fish community and its trophic structure in subtropical Lake Zacapu in central Mexico. Overall, there was good agreement between the results based on the diet and the isotope analysis. Fish diets consisted mainly of aquatic macroinvertebrates, which were abundant in the lake. Most species were secondary consumers and trophic generalists across the four sites and two seasons. The food web structure did not differ significantly between the sites or seasons. Our results suggest a low trophic position of native species having a wide spatial trophic niche and niche width. Trophic diet overlap was greater between native species (especially between species from the same family) than between non-native species. Our study provides new information on the trophic interactions in a subtropical lake, rich in endemic species and an important resource for human communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Open AccessArticle

Seasonal Changes in Upper Thermal Tolerances of Freshwater Thai Fishes

Sampan Tongnunui

Treerat Sooksawat

Charoonroj Chotwiwatthanakun

Weerayuth Supiwong

Amnuay Wattanakornsiri

and

F. W. H. Beamish

Water 2023, 15(2), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020350 - 14 Jan 2023

Viewed by 716

Abstract

Seasonal change inferred to climate change inevitably influences Critical thermal maximum (CTmax) of riverine fishes. In this study, we investigated CTmax as thermal tolerance for four common riverine fishes, i.e., Danio regina, Channa gachua, Rasbora caudimaculata and Mystacoleucus chilopterus, in the Kwae Noi river system in western Thailand. The acute thermal tolerance was lower in the wet season (mean river temperature ∼25 °C) and higher in the dry season (mean river temperature ∼23 °C) with medians of wet season-CTmax for those four fishes of 35.3 ± 0.4, 36.2 ± 0.5, 37.3 ± 0.5 and 37.5 ± 0.6 °C, respectively, and high values of dry season-CTmax of 37.4 ± 0.5, 38.3 ± 0.5, 38.7 ± 0.7 and 39.1 ± 0.5 °C, respectively. The variations of CTmax for all of the four species in this study, throughout the wet and dry seasons, attribute to their seasonal plasticity in response to the dynamics of thermal stress. Under climate variability and climate change with increasing the higher temperatures of air and river, and altering the habitat, R. caudimaculata and M. chilopterus had higher capacities to tolerate the acute heat stress across wet and dry seasons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Open AccessArticle

Past and Present Environmental Factors Differentially Influence Genetic and Morphological Traits of Italian Barbels (Pisces: Cyprinidae)

and

Water 2023, 15(2), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020325 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 764

Abstract

Local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can lead to environment-related morphological and genetic variations in freshwater fish. Studying the responses of fish to environmental changes is crucial to understand their vulnerability to human-induced changes. Here, we used a latitudinal gradient as a proxy for past and present environmental factors and tested its influences on both genetic and morphological patterns. We selected as a suitable biogeographic model, the barbels, which inhabit 17 Adriatic basins of the central-southern Italian Peninsula, and explored association among attributes from genetic, morphological, and environmental analyses. The analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region evidenced a southward significant increase in the number of private haplotypes, supporting the isolation of the southernmost populations related to the Mio-Pleistocene events. In contrast, morphology was mainly affected by changes in the present environmental conditions. Particularly, the number of scales and fish coloration were clearly associated to latitude, and thus thermal and hydrological conditions. Other morphometric and functional traits varied under the selective pressure of other environmental factors like elevation and distance from headwater. These results highlight the sensitivity of barbels to climate changes, which can serve as a basis for future eco-evolutionary and conservation studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Graphical abstract

Open AccessArticle

Environmentally Realistic Waterborne Atrazine Exposure Affects Behavior in Poecilia latipinna

R. David MacLaren

Water 2023, 15(2), 306; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020306 - 11 Jan 2023

Viewed by 484

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of environmentally realistic exposure to atrazine (ATZ) on the behavior of sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna. ATZ is one of the most commonly used pesticides in the US and a known endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). The behavior of sailfin mollies is well documented in the scientific literature. Moreover, they are ecologically important indicators of environmental health, widely distributed among the mangroves along the Gulf Coast of the Southeastern US where significant amounts of ATZ are introduced via runoff and storm water drainage from coastal households, businesses, and farms. Four sets of experiments designed to assess ATZ’s impact on various aspects of male and female reproductive behavior, aggression, anxiety, and boldness were conducted following 12 weeks of exposure to 1 or 15 ppb water-borne ATZ, along with a no-exposure control group. Results indicated that the behavior of ATZ-exposed individuals differed from those of controls: ATZ exposure affected which stimulus fish (a male vs. a female) subject females preferred to associate with while also affecting female strength of preference for males of larger body size and their sexual receptivity to conspecific males in general. ATZ-exposed males also showed reduced overall responsiveness to conspecific stimuli and directed significantly less aggression toward their mirror image compared with controls. Finally, ATZ exposure affected multiple aspects of male and female behavior that are often used as proxies for boldness and anxiety. Overall, ATZ exposure resulted in alterations across a variety of behaviors attributed to sexual receptivity, mate choice and motivation to mate, aggression, as well as boldness and anxiety. These ATZ-induced behavioral changes may adversely affect the long-term health of natural populations exposed to similar, environmentally realistic concentrations and add to a growing body of empirical data demonstrating substantial fitness consequences of exposure to sublethal concentrations of this known EDC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Open AccessArticle

Occurrence of microplastics in Fish from Mendoza River: First Insights into Plastic Pollution in the Central Andes, Argentina

Juan Manuel Ríos

Franco Teixeira de Mello

Bárbara De Feo

Evelyn Krojmal

Camila Vidal

Veronica Andrea Loza-Argote

and

Erica Elizabeth Scheibler

Water 2022, 14(23), 3905; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233905 - 01 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1427

Abstract

The widespread use of plastic products in our modern life represents a serious threat to aquatic environments and wild animals that are exposed to plastic waste. Although microplastics (MPs) have been reported in fish from several freshwater environments around the world, mountain environments have been little studied so far. The occurrence of MPs was assessed in the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of non-native (rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and brown trout Salmo trutta) and native (torrent catfish Hatcheria macraei) fish from the Mendoza River in the Central Andes, Argentina. Fibers (85%) were the main MPs type recovered from the fish here analyzed, followed by fragments (15%). Blue fibers were the main type of MPs in analyzed specimens: brown trout (50%), rainbow trout (71%), and torrent catfish (63%). Significant differences in the median total MPs’ abundance and median total fiber abundance were observed among fish species. The highest MPs’ abundance was found in the GITs of brown trout followed by rainbow trout, while the lowest was found in the GITs of torrent catfish. This study represents a baseline for the occurrence and characteristics in terms of shape and color of MPs in freshwater fish collected from a mountain river of the Central Andes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Aquatic Macrophytes Shape the Foraging Efficiency, Trophic Niche Breadth, and Overlap among Small Fish in a Neotropical River

Bárbara Angélio Quirino

Sidinei Magela Thomaz

Erik Jeppesen

Martin Søndergaard

Mário Sérgio Dainez-Filho

and

Rosemara Fugi

Water 2022, 14(21), 3543; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213543 - 04 Nov 2022

Viewed by 659

Abstract

Aquatic macrophytes are generally recognized to influence fish–prey interactions. We assessed how fish consume particular foods, and how their foraging efficiency, trophic niche breadth, and niche overlap respond to gradients of macrophyte density and diversity. We sampled fish and macrophytes in 30 stands distributed over a 13.7 km stretch of the littoral zone of a river in Brazil. By generating generalized linear models, we showed that increasing macrophyte density (from 366 to 7066 g DW m⁻³) favored herbivory and fish foraging efficiency. Beta regressions showed that fish reduced their trophic niche breadth along the gradient of macrophyte density, while niche overlap increased until a certain extent of plant density when species started to segregate the niche more strongly. However, niche breadth responses varied according to the trophic guild considered, with omnivorous and herbivorous fish generally showing opposite responses. Macrophyte diversity was important for the preferred food items of the fish, with stomach contents shifting from higher plants, algae, and detritus to insects with increasing macrophyte diversity. Therefore, in addition to the presumable effects of macrophyte density on resource availability and prey encounter rates, our findings highlight the importance of maintaining diverse macrophyte stands for the conservation of fish diversity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II)

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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Seasonal changes in upper thermal tolerances of freshwater Thai fishes
Authors: Sampan Tongnunui and F.W.H. Beamish
Affiliation: -
Abstract: Upper thermal tolerance (CTmax) of riverine fishes differed significantly between the two major seasons, wet and dry, for four freshwater fishes. Thermal tolerance was lowest early in the wet season (May) and highest early in the dry season (February) with low values for Danio regina, Channa gachua, Rasbora caudimaculata and M. chilopterus of 35.1±0.3, 36.1±0.2, 37.1±0.3 and 37.2±0.3 ºC and high values of 39.1±0.4, 38.7±0.4, 38.2±0.4 and 37.3±0.4 °C, respectively. Upper thermal tolerance was not appreciably above current maximum ambient temperatures in some Thai rivers. Keywords: Critical thermal maximum, Acclimation, Seasonality, Climate change

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Special Issue "Impacts of Human Activities and Climate Change on Freshwater Fish, Volume II"

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