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Protection and Restoration of Freshwater Ecosystems

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 January 2026 | Viewed by 1433

Special Issue Editor

Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Prirodoslovno-Matematički Fakultet, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: conservation biology; conservation genetics; restoration of freshwater habitats; ichthyology; ecological status of freshwater systems; extinction risk estimation; practical conservation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Even though no ecosystem in the world was spared from anthropogenic impacts, particularly strong negative consequences of various human activities are reported in the freshwater habitats. Through the greatest parts of the human history, these impacts were negligible and the highest amount of respect was shown to freshwater systems and the biodiversity comprised within them. However, in the past decades and centuries, an opinion that freshwater systems serve as an infinite source of water, food, energy etc. and unsustainable exploitation of freshwater ecosystems led to their destruction on many places and high endangerment of the life harboured within them. Degradation and fragmentation of freshwater habitats by building hydropower facilities, various obstacles, constructions on river banks and beds, extraction of water, extraction of sand and other materials from river beds, together with introductions of non-native species and various types of pollution, all are significantly and profoundly altering habitat conditions, but also native communities in freshwater ecosystems to the extent that ecosystem functions and services become disrupted at many localities, water quality and ecological state of rivers and lakes significantly reduced and many native species already displaced/impacted. In order to reverse this negative trend and reduce these problematic effects on the freshwater environments, many initiatives were formed on both, international and national levels, aiming at protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems, in order to prevent local extinctions, stop introductions of the non-native species, restore and maintain natural habitat conditions, regenerate river connectivity and assure maintenance of the ecosystem services provided by freshwater ecosystems. In order to expand knowledge and exchange experiences on the methodologies used for protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems, this special issue will serve as a platform for publication of high-quality papers focusing on threats on various types of freshwater habitats, as well as experiences in mitigating their negative effects and restoring native conditions of their habitats and protecting biodiversity harboured within them.

Problems posed by significant anthropogenic impacts to freshwater environments are high and widespred, but also solutions are being invented and implemented worldwide thanks to strong and ambitious efforts of individual research centres, conservational practiotioners, but also many national and international initiatives. We invite you to submit manuscript comprising results of your research and conservational practices that focus on identifying problems and implementing solutions in protectiong and restoring various types of freshwater ecosystems on all levels to this special issue, that is aimed to serve as a platform for widening experiences and exchanging ideas in mitigation of negative effects of different threats to freshwater ecosystems, as well as protecting biodiversity harbored within them.

Dr. Ivana Buj
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. 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

  • conservation activities
  • ecological restoration
  • ecological state
  • extinction risk
  • freshwater environments
  • protection of biodiversity
  • threats to freshwater environments

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

8 pages, 634 KiB  
Article
Growth Response of Submerged Macrophyte Vallisneria denseserrulata to Water Depth (Light Intensity) Changes Varies with Sediment Nutrient Level
by Yudan Lin, Jinyang Yu, Honglong Zheng, Xiufeng Zhang, Yali Tang, Ping Zhong, Shi Fu, Xiaolin He, Xiaoqin Yang, Hu He, Jinlei Yu, Erik Jeppesen and Zhengwen Liu
Water 2025, 17(13), 1839; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17131839 - 20 Jun 2025
Viewed by 230
Abstract
The re-establishment of submerged macrophytes is crucial for the ecological restoration of eutrophic lakes. Water depth (light intensity) and sediment nutrient levels are key factors influencing the growth of these macrophytes. Although their individual impacts have been extensively studied, their interactive effects remain [...] Read more.
The re-establishment of submerged macrophytes is crucial for the ecological restoration of eutrophic lakes. Water depth (light intensity) and sediment nutrient levels are key factors influencing the growth of these macrophytes. Although their individual impacts have been extensively studied, their interactive effects remain unclear. We conducted a two-factor experiment to investigate the interactive effects of different water depths (50 cm and 190 cm) and sediment nutrient levels (fertile and infertile) on the growth and morphological traits of Vallisneria denseserrulata. We found that biomass, relative growth rate, below/above-ground biomass, ramet number, and leaf number significantly increased with decreasing water depth in fertile sediments, while no significant or less pronounced changes occurred for infertile sediments. The absence or weak responses to increased light intensity in infertile sediments are likely due to photoinhibition, which may be alleviated at higher nutrient levels in fertile sediments. Additionally, V. denseserrulata, in adapting to low-light environments (deeper water), increased plant height at the cost of decreased leaf number and below-ground biomass as water depth increased in fertile sediments. Our study demonstrated significant interactive effects between water depth (light intensity) and sediment nutrient levels on the growth and morphological traits of V. denseserrulata, indicating that their response to water depth (light intensity) strongly depends on sediment fertility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protection and Restoration of Freshwater Ecosystems)
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14 pages, 2821 KiB  
Article
The Decreased Incidence of Raphidiopsis raciborskii Bloom in a Temperate Floodplain Lake in the Middle Danube Affected by Extreme Hydrological Events
by Filip Stević, Melita Mihaljević, Dubravka Špoljarić Maronić, Tanja Žuna Pfeiffer and Vanda Zahirović
Water 2025, 17(3), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030309 - 23 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 922
Abstract
Extreme hydrological events have become more frequent in the Danube River Basin in recent decades. In this research, we focus on the consequences of such events on the dynamic of invasive cyanobacteria Raphidiopsis raciborskii (Wołoszyńska) Aguilera et al. (formerly known as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii [...] Read more.
Extreme hydrological events have become more frequent in the Danube River Basin in recent decades. In this research, we focus on the consequences of such events on the dynamic of invasive cyanobacteria Raphidiopsis raciborskii (Wołoszyńska) Aguilera et al. (formerly known as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Wołoszyńska) Seenayya et Subba Raju). In the Danube floodplain lake used as a case study, the investigated period from 2003 to 2016 was characterized by the cyclical occurrence of extreme floods (2006 and 2013) and extreme droughts (2003 and 2015). As a result, the lake changed several times from a phytoplankton turbid state to a clear state characterized by a very low phytoplankton biomass. R. raciborskii was abundant in the phytoplankton and bloomed in summer 2003 (June–September) and then in summer 2007 (June–August) and in August 2013. Extreme summer drought triggered the bloom, and water temperature was the most significant environmental variable during the bloom. The observed declining trend in total cyanobacterial biomass, including the less frequent occurrence of the R. raciborskii bloom, can be linked to the ecological disturbances in the stable state of the lake caused by extreme hydrological events. This suggests that the effects of climate change may be less detrimental in preserved natural river–floodplain systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protection and Restoration of Freshwater Ecosystems)
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