The Response of the Plankton Community to Environmental Stress

Dear Colleagues,

Water is the essence of life; thus, an adequate quality of water resources for human life is crucial. Plankton plays a major role in most biogeochemical cycles and forms the basis of many aquatic food webs. Aquatic ecosystems are complex networks of organisms, and the structure of these ecosystems depends on the interactions between and among ecological processes and environmental stressors. Plankton communities are extremely sensitive to environmental change, responding not only through their quantity but community composition, as well. In order to understand global biochemical cycles and predict the global environmental change-driven alterations to them, it is necessary to understand patterns in community structure and productivity of major planktonic groups.

This Special Issue calls for new insights into the response of the plankton community to environmental stressors. Contributions may include investigations of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Multiple environmental stressors pose significant challenge to time scales which are appropriate to the response of plankton community. A variety of natural archives preserves indirect records of past environmental and ecological changes. Paleolimnological approaches are also welcomed.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Relations between plankton diversity and ecological functions;
• Response of plankton diversity and ecological functions to environmental stressors;
• Contribution of the plankton community to changes in biogeochemical cycles.

Dr. János Korponai
Dr. Géza B. Selmeczy
Guest Editors

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