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Diversity
Special Issues
Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration
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Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 17127

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Danelle Larson

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Guest Editor
U.S. Geological Survey, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI 54603, USA
Interests: freshwater ecology; aquatic plants; macrophytes; ecological restoration
Prof. Dr. Eva Papastergiadou

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, University Campus Rio, GR 26500 Patras, Greece
Interests: freshwater ecology and management; biodiversity; aquatic and riparian vegetation; plant communities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diversity is launching a Special Issue dedicated to Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration. You are invited to prepare a scientific paper for this Special Issue.

Freshwater biodiversity loss is progressing at an alarming rate, and the loss of aquatic plant (macrophyte) diversity and ecological functions continues. There is an urgent need to better understand the ecology of freshwater macrophyte communities worldwide to best serve conservation and resilience, mitigate further diversity loss, and restore degraded habitats.

In this Special Issue, we will:

  • Highlight the magnificent biodiversity of macrophytes globally in a variety of freshwater habitats, which are elusive to most people because many species live underwater or in remote habitats.
  • Cover all aspects of macrophyte diversity, including at the organism level (genetics, within populations, and functional traits) and the community level (alpha, beta, and gamma diversity metrics; phylogenetics)
  • Showcase meta-analyses and generalizable case studies that describe the patterns and processes of macrophyte biodiversity, community change, vulnerability, and resilience.
  • Emphasize the needs and opportunities for macrophyte conservation and restoration. Papers may either evaluate specific restoration actions (e.g., hydrologic and connectivity engineering, plantings, habitat improvements, invasive species control, or novel techniques), or discuss how the ecological knowledge gained may be applied to conservation or restoration.

Thank you for your important contributions to this field of study, and thanks in advance for considering the submission of your work to this upcoming Special Issue.

Sincerely,

Dr. Danelle Larson
Prof. Dr. Eva Papastergiadou
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. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2100 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

  • aquatic vegetation
  • biodiversity
  • macrophytes
  • freshwater
  • resilience

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

36 pages, 16048 KiB  
Article
The Recent Environmental History, Attempted Restoration and Future Prospects of a Challenged Lobelia Pond in Northeastern Belgium
by Luc Denys, Jo Packet, An Leyssen and Floris Vanderhaeghe
Diversity 2024, 16(8), 487; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080487 - 9 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1427
Abstract
Softwater ponds with Lobelia dortmanna (EU habitat type 3110) represent the rarest aquatic habitat in Belgium. As in many other European countries, its unfavourable conservation status necessitates restoration according to the EU Habitats Directive, which is compromised by a range of pressures and [...] Read more.
Softwater ponds with Lobelia dortmanna (EU habitat type 3110) represent the rarest aquatic habitat in Belgium. As in many other European countries, its unfavourable conservation status necessitates restoration according to the EU Habitats Directive, which is compromised by a range of pressures and faces increasing social–economic opposition. To explore appropriate goals and remaining obstacles for its ecological rehabilitation, we investigated the environmental history of a pond, formerly renowned for the occurrence of this habitat. We complemented monitoring data with information inferred from diatoms analysed from old samples, herbarium specimens and surface sediments, vegetation records, physical–chemical analyses and additional observations. This indicated almost circumneutral, slightly buffered and nutrient-poor conditions for the first decades of the 20th century. Deposition of atmospheric pollutants caused gradual acidification from the early 1940s, intensifying into mineral-acidic conditions by the 1970s. More recently, a period of alkalinisation and eutrophication followed despite some restoration efforts. We discuss these changes in the contexts of general setting, external pressures and internal processes. Reflecting upon the prospects for restoring the pond’s emblematic biodiversity, management implications for this and other softwater sites dealing with similar problems are discussed. A new combination in the diatom genus Iconella is proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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15 pages, 7481 KiB  
Article
Distribution of Aquatic Macrophytes in the Littoral of Lake Bohinj (Slovenia)
by Nik Ojdanič, Mateja Germ, Maša Andlovic, Dorotej Černela and Igor Zelnik
Diversity 2023, 15(11), 1115; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15111115 - 26 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1598
Abstract
In alpine Lake Bohinj, which is an LTER site and a part of the national park, the occurrence and depth distribution of submerged and emerged aquatic macrophytes were analyzed. Nine submerged and one emergent macrophyte taxa were found in the lake: Myriophyllum spicatum [...] Read more.
In alpine Lake Bohinj, which is an LTER site and a part of the national park, the occurrence and depth distribution of submerged and emerged aquatic macrophytes were analyzed. Nine submerged and one emergent macrophyte taxa were found in the lake: Myriophyllum spicatum, Chara virgata, Chara aspera, Potamogeton lucens, Potamogeton alpinus, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Potamogeton pusillus, Ranunculus circinatus with the synonym Batrachium foeniculaceum and the emergent species Phragmites australis. The depth of the vegetation zones was measured using a depth meter and their coordinates were recorded using a GNSS antenna with RTK receiver. These data were used along with a DEM of lake depths to accurately map the potential zone of macrophyte growth, which was based on the depths of macrophyte distribution. The potential zone of macrophyte growth consisted of 28 different transects and covered 240.14 ha of the lake. The macrophytes covered 5.55 ha. The most common and abundant species was M. spicatum. A significant difference in macrophyte cover was found between the south and north shores of the lake, with the south shore having more patches with a larger total area. A clear difference in macrophyte cover was also noted between the main inflow and outflow of the lake. The presence of macrophytes and their diversity varied in different parts of the lake due to differences in slope, depth and type of substrates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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15 pages, 2113 KiB  
Article
Relationships between Environmental Factors and Functional Traits of Macrophyte Assemblages in Running Waters of Greece
by Konstantinos Stefanidis, Anthi Oikonomou, Georgios Dimitrellos, Dionysios Tsoukalas and Eva Papastergiadou
Diversity 2023, 15(9), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15090949 - 23 Aug 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3449
Abstract
The analysis of plant trait composition has raised significant interest among freshwater ecologists as a complementary approach for assessing the effects of environmental change on ecosystem functions. In this study, we investigated patterns of functional traits of the aquatic macrophyte assemblages of 74 [...] Read more.
The analysis of plant trait composition has raised significant interest among freshwater ecologists as a complementary approach for assessing the effects of environmental change on ecosystem functions. In this study, we investigated patterns of functional traits of the aquatic macrophyte assemblages of 74 lotic ecosystems of Greece, and we identified associations between species traits and environmental variables (hydromorphological and physicochemical parameters) through testing the hypothesis that the environmental features determine the spatial structure of traits. We allocated 12 traits to a total of 39 hydrophyte species, and we conducted RLQ and fourth corner analysis to explore relationships between species, trait composition, and environmental gradients. Based on the results of the RLQ, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to identify groups of plants that share common trait characteristics. Plants were discriminated into five discrete groups based mostly on their life form (e.g., free-floating, rooted submerged etc.) and their ecological preference for nitrogen levels. Hydromorphological parameters had a higher contribution than physicochemical variables in explaining the total variance of the trait data, with water abstraction, channel substrate, and hydrologic alteration being the most important. Our analysis did not reveal significant bivariate relationships between single traits and environmental parameters, although the five groups of macrophyte assemblages appeared to associate with certain environmental gradients. Free-floating and emergent plants were related to higher concentrations of nutrients, whereas rooted submerged plants were related to higher oxygen concentration and increased pH. In addition, free-floating plants were highly associated with metrics of hydromorphological change. Our findings showed clear discrimination of macrophytes based on their functional composition and association of traits with environmental gradients. Thus, further research could explore whether macrophyte functional groups can serve as indicators of environmental change and the overall ecosystem health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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19 pages, 1957 KiB  
Article
Salinity as a Key Factor in Structuring Macrophyte Assemblages in Transitional Water Bodies: The Case of the Apulian Coastal Lagoons (Southern Italy)
by Andrea Tursi, Anna Lisco, Giovanni Chimienti, Francesco Mastrototaro, Nicola Ungaro and Antonella Bottalico
Diversity 2023, 15(5), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15050615 - 1 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2118
Abstract
Coastal lagoons are dynamic transitional water ecosystems hosting valuable biological communities, including rich and diverse macrophyte assemblages. Aquatic macrophytes must cope with large fluctuations of environmental conditions on a spatial and seasonal scale. Salinity is one of the most variable parameters, changing from [...] Read more.
Coastal lagoons are dynamic transitional water ecosystems hosting valuable biological communities, including rich and diverse macrophyte assemblages. Aquatic macrophytes must cope with large fluctuations of environmental conditions on a spatial and seasonal scale. Salinity is one of the most variable parameters, changing from nearly freshwater to hypersalinity, and it is known to have a strong influence on the composition and structure of macrophyte assemblages. This study is focused on the effect of salinity on macrophyte communities of the eight most important coastal lagoons of Apulia (south-eastern Mediterranean Sea). A set of eleven transitional water body types (sensu Water Framework Directive) were allocated in a range of meso- to hyperhaline lagoons. Macrophyte sampling was carried out between 2011 and 2019, and a total of 324 samples (18 sampling stations × 2 seasons × 9 years) was analyzed. Then, macrophyte occurrence in each transitional water body (T-WB) was expressed as frequency values (%) and assemblages were compared to assess any similarity in relation to four salinity classes (mesohaline, polyhaline, euhaline and hyperhaline). Species richness varied according to the salinity class, being much higher in polyhaline and euhaline T-WBs and strongly decreasing at the extremes of the salinity range (mesohaline and hyperhaline T-WBs). Moreover, the statistical analysis showed a high resemblance of macrophyte assemblages of T-WBs within the same salinity class, which shared a great number of species. Four distinct macrophyte communities were distinguished, reflecting the salinity conditions of different T-WB types and confirming the effectiveness of a lagoon typology based on this descriptor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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20 pages, 3303 KiB  
Article
22 Years of Aquatic Plant Spatiotemporal Dynamics in the Upper Mississippi River
by Alicia M. Carhart, Jason J. Rohweder and Danelle M. Larson
Diversity 2023, 15(4), 523; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040523 - 4 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1578
Abstract
Macrophyte (aquatic plant) recovery has occurred in rivers worldwide, but assemblage patterns and habitat requirements are generally not well understood. We examined patterns of species composition and macrophyte abundance in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), spanning 22 years of monitoring and a period [...] Read more.
Macrophyte (aquatic plant) recovery has occurred in rivers worldwide, but assemblage patterns and habitat requirements are generally not well understood. We examined patterns of species composition and macrophyte abundance in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), spanning 22 years of monitoring and a period of vegetation recovery. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed a gradient of macrophyte abundance and diversity for 25 species, which were associated with water velocity, depth, wind fetch, and water clarity. Three macrophyte genera of ecological and restoration interest (Zizania aquatica, Vallisneria americana, and Sagittaria spp.) occupied different ecological niches. Trends of NMDS values showed that Z. aquatica first co-occurred in shallow areas with Sagittaria spp. but then expanded into deeper, lotic habitats where V. americana often resided. Curve Fit regression analysis identified large areas of significant increases in the relative abundance of V. americana and percent cover of Z. aquatica in several reaches of the UMR from 1998–2019. Sagittaria spp. were more spatiotemporally dynamic, which may indicate specific habitat requirements and sensitivity to environmental gradients. Our analyses showed that these three ecologically important genera are spatiotemporally dynamic but have somewhat predictable habitat associations, which can guide macrophyte management and restoration in the UMR and other large, floodplain rivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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8 pages, 969 KiB  
Article
The Foraging Window for Greater White-Fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) Is Consistent with the Growth Stage of Carex
by Yundong Zhong, Lei Cheng, Yanguang Fan, Lizhi Zhou and Yunwei Song
Diversity 2022, 14(11), 943; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110943 - 3 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2089
Abstract
Food resources are key limiting factors for migratory waterbirds, and the foraging strategies adopted by herbivorous waterbirds are affected by food availability in wetland habitats. The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is mainly dependent on Carex in the lower and middle [...] Read more.
Food resources are key limiting factors for migratory waterbirds, and the foraging strategies adopted by herbivorous waterbirds are affected by food availability in wetland habitats. The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is mainly dependent on Carex in the lower and middle Yangtze River floodplain. Exploring the relationship between the growth conditions of Carex and the foraging strategies adopted by wintering greater white-fronted geese has important ecological implications for habitat protection and management. In this study, scan sampling and focal animal sampling were used to record the foraging behaviors of greater white-fronted geese wintering at Shengjin Lake, and the plant height and water content of Carex were surveyed simultaneously. The relationship between plant characteristics and foraging behaviors was tested using a linear regression equation. The results showed that Carex had two growth periods at Shengjin Lake, and the pecking rate and foraging time budget of greater white-fronted geese were higher during these two periods. Plant characteristics were positively correlated with goose foraging behaviors. The strategic adjustment of the foraging behaviors adopted by wintering greater white-fronted geese was consistent with the growth stage of Carex, which is the optimal foraging window for greater white-fronted geese. During the foraging windows, geese changed their foraging strategies to obtain more energy in order to guarantee successful wintering and migration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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15 pages, 4756 KiB  
Article
Diversity Patterns of Wetland Angiosperms in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China
by Yigang Li, Yadong Zhou, Fan Liu, Xing Liu and Qingfeng Wang
Diversity 2022, 14(10), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100777 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2900
Abstract
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has a special geological history, diverse habitats, a complex climate, and a large number of wetlands, which harbor a huge of wetland plants. In this study, we sorted out the monographs, literatures and online databases, as well as our own [...] Read more.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has a special geological history, diverse habitats, a complex climate, and a large number of wetlands, which harbor a huge of wetland plants. In this study, we sorted out the monographs, literatures and online databases, as well as our own collection from field surveys, and comprehensively combed the checklist and county-level diversity of wetland angiosperms and endangered species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for the first time. The distribution pattern of species richness was analyzed through three groups of environmental variables: energy, water, and habitat. The wetland angiosperms have high richness, with a total of 2329 species, belonging to 91 families and 438 genera, mainly hygrophytes (94.98%). The spatial distribution is uneven, and gradually decreases from the southeast to the northwest of the plateau. Species richness decreased with elevation and latitude and increased with longitude. Annual precipitation (AP) and annual mean temperature (AMT) are the most important variables affecting species diversity. Habitat environmental variables had less influence on species richness distribution and wetland area was not associated with richness distribution. The setting of endangered wetland angiosperm reserves needs to focus on the Hengduan Mountains and southeastern Tibet. Our study provided basic data for the research and protection of wetland plant diversity in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Plant Diversity, Conservation, and Restoration)
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