Aquatic Ecosystems under Changing Environmental Conditions: What Have We Learned?

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is being reported around the world and is altering the living environment of many living organisms on the Earth's surface. The ever-increasing human demographic pressure also leads to an increasing use of resources, land and water, for human well-being. This has the consequences of contributing to environmental change and aggravating the effects of climate change/warming. Climate change combined with the intense use of resources due to increasing demographic pressure have very diverse and harmful effects on ecosystems. The severity degree of these effects depends on the zones/regions affected (arid, semi-arid, humid, and very humid regions) and the biological specificities of the species (degrees of thermophilia, oxyphilia, flexibility in the habitat use, eurytopic, food specialization). Changing environmental conditions in an ecosystem even for light scenarios can pose a serious threat leading to global biodiversity loss, ranging from cellular to population levels. For all living organisms, the responses to changing environmental conditions at the ecosystem level can be extinction, emigration, and adaptation, with very serious consequences on the biodiversity erosion and the change in the distribution area of the species. Aquatic ecosystems, especially freshwater ecosystems, are scarce on the Earth. These ecosystems are particularly sensitive to changing environmental conditions and they are counted among the most affected ecosystems; still, freshwater ecosystems contain a greater biodiversity.

Despite numerous scientific alerts on changing environmental conditions, their effects on the biology and ecology of species in aquatic ecosystems taken in their typological diversity are still incompletely understood. Regardless, the tools for studying the biology and ecology of species have recently made great progress. These types of studies are essential to better understand the global effects of changes in environmental conditions, especially in aquatic ecosystems (physical habitats, biocenosis); the variety in species’ responses in a typologically aquatic environment diversity including marine, estuarine, lagoon, lake and riverine ecosystems; and the proposals for remedies/solutions associated with this aquatic ecosystem diversity. Such knowledge should lead to an integrated and global policy for the sustainable management of populations as well as aquatic habitats and therefore allow the conservation of ecosystems. This Special Issue should serve as a platform to share new discoveries on the effects of changing environmental conditions, the biological responses of species, and future predictions as well as thoughts on the most likely solutions. Original articles and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Michaël Ovidio
Dr. Billy Nzau Matondo
Dr. Jean-Philippe Benitez
Guest Editors

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• behavioral ecology
• biodiversity
• stock assessment
• ecosystem management
• environmental threat
• fish distribution