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Biological and Ecological Protection in the Freshwater Ecosystems
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Biological and Ecological Protection in the 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 August 2026 | Viewed by 960

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Weijing Kong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: freshwater ecosystem monitoring; habitat assessment; macrophytes; riverscape; watershed management
Dr. Shuping Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: environmental DNA; molecular ecology and environmental genomics; community ecology; aquatic ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiao-Long Lin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Interests: biosgeography; Chironomidae; ecology; systematics; eDNA; mitogenome; molecular phylogeny
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater ecosystems are the main part of the Earth’s ecosystem. Nowadays, it is facing complicated natural processes and anthropogenic influence. How to protect heterogeneous freshwater ecosystems in different scales is a challenging scientific topic. Different regions present various environmental backgrounds with compatible management policies, and the biological and ecological protection needs for freshwater ecosystems are different. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The monitoring and assessment of ecosystem health of natural and human-made water bodies;
  • Innovative restoration techniques for degraded freshwater ecosystems;
  • The role of riparian zones in maintaining ecological balance;
  • The impacts of climate change and human activities on freshwater systems;
  • Diversity studies of various types of freshwater ecosystems;
  • Main anthropogenic influences in freshwater ecosystems, community structure and functional complexity (from plankton to benthos);
  • Applications of eDNA analysis and molecular taxonomy.

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

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Weijing Kong
Dr. Shuping Wang
Dr. Xiao-Long Lin
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

  • riparian
  • phytoplankton
  • zooplankton
  • macroinvertebrate
  • fish
  • macrophyte
  • habitat
  • riverscape
  • freshwater ecosystem assessment
  • freshwater ecosystem monitoring
  • protection of biodiversity
  • freshwater ecosystem conservation
  • anthropogeic disturbance
  • freshwater ecosystem services

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

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2463 KB  
Article
Seasonal Dynamics of Phytoplankton Communities and Bloom Risk Assessment in Baiyangdian Lake During the 2025 Critical Growing Season
by Yao Li, Shaowei Bian, Fanqing Kong, Yanfeng Huang, Jianwu He, Yunfei Zhang, Wenhui Shi, Zhe Wang and Wengeng Cao
Water 2026, 18(10), 1172; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18101172 - 13 May 2026
Viewed by 284
Abstract
Phytoplankton are the primary producers in freshwater lake ecosystems and play a fundamental role in maintaining the structure and function of lacustrine food webs. Baiyangdian Lake, located at the core of Xiong’an New Area, is vital for regional aquatic ecological security. However, systematic [...] Read more.
Phytoplankton are the primary producers in freshwater lake ecosystems and play a fundamental role in maintaining the structure and function of lacustrine food webs. Baiyangdian Lake, located at the core of Xiong’an New Area, is vital for regional aquatic ecological security. However, systematic data on phytoplankton community dynamics throughout the phytoplankton critical growing season are scarce. In this study, we conducted a monthly investigation of phytoplankton communities in Baiyangdian Lake from April to October 2025, analyzing community composition, abundance, and diversity patterns. A total of 152 phytoplankton taxa across 8 major algal groups were identified, with Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, and Cyanobacteria being the dominant groups. Phytoplankton abundance exhibited distinct seasonal variation, peaking in August and reaching its lowest in October. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′) and Pielou evenness index (J′) were generally at favorable levels, indicating a relatively stable community structure. The mean phytoplankton density across all sampling sites during the growing season was 8.70 × 106 cells/L, categorizing the lake as having “no obvious bloom” according to standard bloom severity classifications. The overall trophic state of Baiyangdian Lake during the study period was mesotrophic. These findings provide fundamental baseline data and scientific support for the management of algal bloom risks and the long-term conservation of the lake’s aquatic ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological and Ecological Protection in the Freshwater Ecosystems)
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15 pages, 6763 KB  
Article
The Relative Roles of Climate, Local Habitat, and Spatial Factors in Shaping Riparian Herbaceous Community Structure Along a Large Temperate River, China
by Huijuan Xia, Shuping Wang and Weijing Kong
Water 2026, 18(7), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18070837 - 31 Mar 2026
Viewed by 370
Abstract
Riparian areas serve as critical hotspots of biodiversity, and understanding the spatial pattern of species distribution is essential for biodiversity conservation. However, the mechanism underlying species distribution remains an unsolved topic in ecology. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the spatial pattern [...] Read more.
Riparian areas serve as critical hotspots of biodiversity, and understanding the spatial pattern of species distribution is essential for biodiversity conservation. However, the mechanism underlying species distribution remains an unsolved topic in ecology. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the spatial pattern of riparian herbaceous community structure along a large temperate river (i.e., the Liaohe River) in China, and aimed to determine how the relative roles of climate, local habitat, and spatial factors in shaping plant community structure vary across different geographical regions. Our findings indicate that climate, local habitat, and spatial factors jointly influence herbaceous community structure. Specifically, precipitation and temperature significantly affected species richness in most regions of the Liaohe River basin. Notably, precipitation exhibited a negative relationship with species richness along the West Liaohe River, whereas it showed a positive association along the left tributaries of the Liaohe Mainstream. Spatial factors explained a larger proportion of variations in herbaceous community composition than climate and local habitat along the West Liaohe, East Liaohe, and Taizihe Rivers. Although local habitat explained a small fraction of variations in herbaceous composition in most geographical regions, it emerged as key drivers along the Liaohe Mainstream. In conclusion, the relative roles of climate, local habitat, and spatial factors in structuring riparian herbaceous communities were not determined by spatial extent, but were closely tied to the environmental context, including climate and human disturbance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological and Ecological Protection in the Freshwater Ecosystems)
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