Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.0
3.0
Journals
Water
Special Issues
Freshwater Ecosystems—Biodiversity and Protection: 2nd Edition
water-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Water Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Freshwater Ecosystems—Biodiversity and Protection: 2nd Edition

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 February 2026 | Viewed by 2125

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dubravka Čerba

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Assessment and Aquatic Ecosystems Research, National Water Reference Laboratory of Slovakia, Water Research Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia
Interests: Chironomidae; macrozoobenthos; epiphyton; hydrobiology; water quality assessment; freshwater biodiversity; paleolimnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Filip Stevic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Interests: aquatic ecology; phytoplankton taxonomy and ecology; phytoplankton functional groups; floodplain ecology; invasive species; water quality assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maja Raković

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković" National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: freshwater Mollusca (Gastropoda and Bivalvia); macroinvertebrates; taxonomy and population genetics; water quality assessment; invasive species

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There are currently a number of concerns in all ecosystems regarding biodiversity and habitat protection. This is especially true for freshwater ecosystems, since some of the strongest negative anthropogenic influences are evident in the lakes, rivers, ponds, and floodplains in our vicinity. Globally, there is an ongoing struggle with the challenges of protecting biodiversity; decreasing habitat destruction; ensuring vital ecological services; and developing various methods to actively assess and monitor aquatic habitats (and communities) as well as plans and models for the protection, revitalization, and restoration of natural freshwater ecosystems. To achieve these goals, it is vital to understand how such systems function, the status of the communities present, and the main influencing factors at play. Furthermore, the application of biotic elements or multi-indicator methods can be helpful in the protection and management of the studied freshwater system.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present reviews, notes, and original research that concern the following issues: diversity studies of various types of freshwater ecosystems, water quality assessment methods and application, important stressors in lentic and lotic ecosystems, biodiversity in human-made water bodies, bioassessment of natural and human-made water bodies, main anthropogenic influences in freshwater ecosystems, community structure and functional complexity (from plankton to benthos), and applications of eDNA analysis and molecular taxonomy.

We believe these subjects will be of significant aid for the further development of biodiversity studies as well as in the monitoring and protection of freshwater ecosystems.

Dr. Dubravka Čerba
Dr. Filip Stevic
Dr. Maja Raković
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 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

  • freshwater communities
  • α, β, γ diversity
  • biotic indicators
  • water quality assessment
  • anthropogenic influence
  • ecotoxicology
  • metacommunity
  • invasive species
  • non-wadeable rivers
  • conservation
  • barcoding

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

19 pages, 2931 KB  
Article
Integrating Microbial Source Tracking to Unravel Impacts of Wastewater Discharge on Spatial Distribution of Riverine Microbial Community
by Yanru Fan, Hongbin Gao, Zhongfeng Jiang, Yuran Lv, Xiang Guo, Xinfeng Zhu, Junfeng Wu, Yizhe Li, Wenxiang Yu, Qi Li and Keyu Yuan
Water 2025, 17(18), 2753; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17182753 - 17 Sep 2025
Abstract
Microbial communities play a pivotal role in material cycling, energy flow, and pollutant degradation within river ecosystems. Thus, gaining a clear understanding of how wastewater discharge affects microbial community structure and function is essential for the protection and management of the surface water [...] Read more.
Microbial communities play a pivotal role in material cycling, energy flow, and pollutant degradation within river ecosystems. Thus, gaining a clear understanding of how wastewater discharge affects microbial community structure and function is essential for the protection and management of the surface water environment. In this study, a total of 9 samples were collected from the Sha River in March 2024. Subsequently, 16S rRNA sequencing technology combined with investigation of physicochemical properties of water was used to investigate the compositional diversity, spatial distribution, and explore the environmental effects of wastewater discharged on microorganisms. The sequencing results of species at the phylum level revealed that the dominant microbial phyla in the Sha River were primarily Proteobacteria (55.4%), Actinobacteriota (24.0%), Bacteroidota (14.3%), and Verrucomicrobiota (2.6%). The most dominant phylum, Proteobacteria, exhibited varying abundances across different sampling sites in the Sha River basin, with the highest abundances observed at Sites S2, S4, S5, and S6. This is mainly due to the fact that the upstream areas of Sites S2, S4, S5, and S6 are characterized by high concentrations of COD and NH3-N, which are caused by wastewater discharge. Quantitative analysis was also conducted using the Source Tracker model; the results showed that S2 (36.7%) and S4 (31.3%) in the upper reaches of the Sha River are the primary contributors to the microbial community in the downstream catchment area (S6). The study found that the impact of wastewater discharge on the microbial community in the downstream water body exhibits a “longitudinal persistence of microbial signatures” even though the physicochemical pollution indicators of the water body have decreased. These findings of this study represent the application in microbial source tracking in the upstream and downstream sections of rivers, providing strong support for formulating more effective environmental protection strategies in the Sha River basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Ecosystems—Biodiversity and Protection: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 3525 KB  
Article
A Decade of Change in the Floodplain Lake: Does Zooplankton Yield or Resist?
by Anita Galir, Filip Stević, Karla Čmelar, Dubravka Špoljarić Maronić, Tanja Žuna Pfeiffer and Nikolina Bek
Water 2025, 17(17), 2638; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17172638 - 6 Sep 2025
Viewed by 694
Abstract
Natural ecosystems, especially those regulated by floods, are sensitive to prolonged temperature fluctuations that affect hydrology and the lateral connection between the river and its floodplain. Here, we analyzed a series of zooplankton data collected monthly from 2007 to 2016 during the ice-free [...] Read more.
Natural ecosystems, especially those regulated by floods, are sensitive to prolonged temperature fluctuations that affect hydrology and the lateral connection between the river and its floodplain. Here, we analyzed a series of zooplankton data collected monthly from 2007 to 2016 during the ice-free period in Kopački Rit Nature Park in the Middle Danube, an area important as a food source and nursery area for fish stocks in the Danube. The aim was to find out how the long-term change in temperature and fluctuating environmental parameters affect the succession of zooplankton in the warmer (from April to September) and colder parts of the year (from October to March). Throughout the decade, total nitrogen concentrations showed significant differences between years, with an increase since 2012. Despite the increase in nitrogen levels and the expected increase in primary production, the higher nitrogen levels were accompanied by lower zooplankton biomass. A significant difference was found between the values of the zooplankton geometric mean index, with 73% of the variance explained by the difference between groups. In general, a trend toward a significant decrease in zooplankton biomass, with a simultaneous increase in the number of species and high turnover rates, was observed throughout the decade. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Ecosystems—Biodiversity and Protection: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

11 pages, 1806 KB  
Review
Invasive Crayfish Stepping as a Potential Threat for Coastal Waters
by Massimiliano Scalici and Luca Gallitelli
Water 2025, 17(10), 1519; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17101519 - 17 May 2025
Viewed by 750
Abstract
Species belonging to the crustacean infraorder Astacoidea represent taxa of particular interest from a conservation point of view, such as the threatened European crayfish (i.e., Austropotamobius pallipes), and at the same time include invasive taxa having highly negative impacts where they are [...] Read more.
Species belonging to the crustacean infraorder Astacoidea represent taxa of particular interest from a conservation point of view, such as the threatened European crayfish (i.e., Austropotamobius pallipes), and at the same time include invasive taxa having highly negative impacts where they are introduced. Among the latter, some freshwater-dwelling species seem to show some abilities to tolerate high salinity levels, such as Procambarus clarkii Girard, 1852. By using metadata and field observation, this review will investigate whether the alien P. clarkii can threaten coastal waters. Specifically, we will shed light on P. clarkii’s (1) invasiveness, (2) its dispersal pattern, (3) its tolerance to salinity, and (4) its ecological plasticity as an invasive species in relation to estuaries. This new habitat colonization is also possible as P. clarkii has been observed to survive up to 20 ppt of water salinity and a maximum of 30–35 ppt with its lifetime drastically reduced. As a result, P. clarkii colonizes different ecosystems globally, reaching estuarine and coastal ecosystems due to active and passive transport by human and animal vectors. Due to recent discoveries of alien crayfish in estuarine and coastal waters, monitoring activities have become mandatory to preserve coastal habitats and all the aquatic resources (e.g., limicolous birds, endemic fish, fishery and aquaculture activities) inhabiting therein. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freshwater Ecosystems—Biodiversity and Protection: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop