Wetland Ecosystems: Exploring Biodiversity Patterns and Conservation Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

Except for Antarctica, wetlands are spread all over the world. Today, major wetland regions, e.g., the Orinoco River Delta, Llanos, Amazon River, Pantanal, Nile Delta, and the Okavango Delta Mediterranean Sea Deltas, to name a few, are considered the most threatened ecosystems, experiencing 35% loss globally since 1970 and disappearing three times faster than forests. This situation is driven by land use, particularly agriculture, climate change, changing hydrological cycles, landscape degradation, and fire.

Wetlands are known for their high biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic species and endemism, with a large number of species barely known to science. In a paper collection with a broad spectrum of studies, we look for contributions dealing with how ecosystem processes impact biodiversity and, vice versa, how biodiversity impacts ecosystem processes.

The following content topic suggestions may be of help to decide for a manuscript submission. “State-of-the-Art” topic reviews are welcome.

Studies addressing: Identification of mechanisms driving biodiversity patterns and changes/constraints of biodiversity in wetlands; connecting/linking diversity to environment and ecosystem functions; hydrological patterns, land use and management, urbanization, and fragment climate change; fire ecology; plant productivity and reproduction phenology; habitat heterogeneity; water quality and availability; chemical cycles; autecology of little-known species (vertebrates, invertebrates); modern noninvasive techniques to collect data on biodiversity (drones, automated acoustic recording devices, camera traps, etc.); remote sensing; role of protected areas in protecting biodiversity and conserving wetlands; restoring wetlands/wetland initiatives/reintroduction of species and their impact on conserving wetlands and maintaining biodiversity.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Karl-L. Schuchmann
Prof. Dr. Marinêz Isaac Marques
Guest Editors

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• biodiversity assessments
• ecosystem functions
• wetland conservation
• land use