Fish Ecology and Responses to Environmental Variation in Streams
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: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 2156
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ecology; freshwater; fish; landscape; community ecology; feed ecology; reproduction ecology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Environmental conditions are important factors in the maintenance and conservation of biodiversity. In recent years, we have seen advances in anthropic changes in natural ecosystems, which have resulted in a decrease in environmental variation and a loss of biodiversity. These impacts are of even greater concern in more sensitive systems such as small streams because of their connection with and dependence on their drainage basin, where changes made to the terrestrial system leach into the aquatic system. Therefore, it is of global concern that in many regions, it is only possible to find streams that are still of good environmental quality in areas of forest remnants that are situated within altered landscapes with different land use practices, such as agriculture, pasture, logging, and urbanization.
Streams are major contributors to the biodiversity of river ecosystems, but are among the ecosystems most threatened by human activities arising from land use practices, chemical and physical pollution, and the introduction of exotic or invasive species. Because of their dependence on riparian forest and their proximity to urban centers, streams are substantially affected by deforestation, which changes the banks, causing instability in the riparian zone and changing the energy input system. What was once sustained by an allochthonous system, with the input of branches, leaves, and fruits of the marginal vegetation, is now supported by an autochthonous system, with the input of algae and macrophytes. This change in the energy input can cause changes in the proportions of the functional groups, or even local extinction. Concomitantly to this, terrestrial inputs such as sediments and pesticides are leached into the stream channel, which changes the substrate and decreases microhabitat variability, causing a loss of species. In addition, these changes impact the entire drainage basin, directly affecting small-order streams, which may eventually manifest in large rivers. Although recent studies have shown the importance of maintaining environmental variation to ensure the preservation of stream biodiversity, these environments are often neglected in conservation plans.
This Special Issue invites authors to submit original research papers or review articles covering the latest discoveries and developments in this field. We seek contributions reporting fishes’ ecological responses to different local- and landscape-scale environmental variations in small-order streams. Contributions may be based on populations and stream fish communities, with approaches based on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity.
Prof. Dr. Luciano Fogaça de Assis Montag
Dr. Bruno Eleres Soares
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- community ecology
- population ecology
- food webs
- landscape
- freshwater
- stream ecology
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