Water is the most abundant and important substance for life on Earth and may seem inexhaustible, however, just under 1% of the Earth’s water can be used to meet human demands - in the form of freshwater. As human population growth continues, this growth will serve as the dominant contributor to freshwater scarcity and decreasing freshwater quality. Earth’s increasing population size will put a strain on resources and the environment, exacerbating the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and water scarcity. The limits of availability of freshwater and its exploitation are among the most important reasons for hypothesizing a limit to the development of human activities and the long-term growth of the world population.
Any identifiable change in environmental conditions that places strain on the health and functioning of the freshwater ecosystem is defined as a freshwater stressor. Natural and anthropogenic freshwater stressors can be described as simple, additive, and/or synergistic and further generally divided into radiations, vibrations, physical elements and structures, chemical substances, organisms, populations, associations, communities, physical, chemical, and ecological processes, and recurrent or rare/unpredictable phenomena. These stressors can induce freshwater environmental change and degradation, leading to the loss of varied taxa, strains and species, habitats, biocoenoses, and ecosystems, with a high negative impact on the natural dynamic equilibrium and associated natural resources and services. Shifting climate regimes also have the potential to induce and amplify freshwater stressors resulting in altered hydrology (e.g, by flooding and droughts), and water quality (e.g. by a temperature-induced increase in toxicity of pollutants), for instance.
The aim of this Research Topic is to highlight that extremely numerous and varied freshwater stressors can be used as valuable, indeed indispensable, indicators and precursors of freshwater environmental degradation. These stressors need to be analyzed using identification, inventory, cataloging, spatial and temporal assessment of interactions and impacts, monitoring, and management techniques within different geographic and climatic contexts. This collection intends to stress the importance of this subject area and the implications of the research results for environmental restoration, protection, and conservation practice. In addition, we welcome papers that address the need for the sustainable development of human activities and societies in the changing climatic, environmental and societal contexts of the future.
The main topics of importance include but are not limited to:
• Identifying different freshwater stressors, their presence, and sources.
• Understanding and presenting the structural and functional characteristics of freshwater stressors qualitatively and quantitatively.
• Measuring the magnitude of impacts of individual and interacting stressors.
• Understanding how the changing climate acts as a freshwater stressor and its influence on other natural and anthropogenic stressors.
• Prognosing trends regarding likely impacts of individual and interacting freshwater stressors.
• Diminishing, neutralizing, and/or avoiding the effects of freshwater stressors.
• Assessment, monitoring, and management techniques that can aid the work of restoration and conservation groups.
This Research Topic intends to highlight the importance of applying scientific approaches based on the smallest elementary stressors to the most complex and integrated natural and anthropogenic systems of the planet, including climate change, inviting researchers around the world to submit cutting edge studies covering the existing gaps in the general and specific understanding and applications of this research theme.
The Topic Editor team request and encourage that all researchers submitting to this collection to please submit a preliminary working title and abstract outlining the theme of their submission and a brief overview of the manuscript’s content.
Water is the most abundant and important substance for life on Earth and may seem inexhaustible, however, just under 1% of the Earth’s water can be used to meet human demands - in the form of freshwater. As human population growth continues, this growth will serve as the dominant contributor to freshwater scarcity and decreasing freshwater quality. Earth’s increasing population size will put a strain on resources and the environment, exacerbating the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and water scarcity. The limits of availability of freshwater and its exploitation are among the most important reasons for hypothesizing a limit to the development of human activities and the long-term growth of the world population.
Any identifiable change in environmental conditions that places strain on the health and functioning of the freshwater ecosystem is defined as a freshwater stressor. Natural and anthropogenic freshwater stressors can be described as simple, additive, and/or synergistic and further generally divided into radiations, vibrations, physical elements and structures, chemical substances, organisms, populations, associations, communities, physical, chemical, and ecological processes, and recurrent or rare/unpredictable phenomena. These stressors can induce freshwater environmental change and degradation, leading to the loss of varied taxa, strains and species, habitats, biocoenoses, and ecosystems, with a high negative impact on the natural dynamic equilibrium and associated natural resources and services. Shifting climate regimes also have the potential to induce and amplify freshwater stressors resulting in altered hydrology (e.g, by flooding and droughts), and water quality (e.g. by a temperature-induced increase in toxicity of pollutants), for instance.
The aim of this Research Topic is to highlight that extremely numerous and varied freshwater stressors can be used as valuable, indeed indispensable, indicators and precursors of freshwater environmental degradation. These stressors need to be analyzed using identification, inventory, cataloging, spatial and temporal assessment of interactions and impacts, monitoring, and management techniques within different geographic and climatic contexts. This collection intends to stress the importance of this subject area and the implications of the research results for environmental restoration, protection, and conservation practice. In addition, we welcome papers that address the need for the sustainable development of human activities and societies in the changing climatic, environmental and societal contexts of the future.
The main topics of importance include but are not limited to:
• Identifying different freshwater stressors, their presence, and sources.
• Understanding and presenting the structural and functional characteristics of freshwater stressors qualitatively and quantitatively.
• Measuring the magnitude of impacts of individual and interacting stressors.
• Understanding how the changing climate acts as a freshwater stressor and its influence on other natural and anthropogenic stressors.
• Prognosing trends regarding likely impacts of individual and interacting freshwater stressors.
• Diminishing, neutralizing, and/or avoiding the effects of freshwater stressors.
• Assessment, monitoring, and management techniques that can aid the work of restoration and conservation groups.
This Research Topic intends to highlight the importance of applying scientific approaches based on the smallest elementary stressors to the most complex and integrated natural and anthropogenic systems of the planet, including climate change, inviting researchers around the world to submit cutting edge studies covering the existing gaps in the general and specific understanding and applications of this research theme.
The Topic Editor team request and encourage that all researchers submitting to this collection to please submit a preliminary working title and abstract outlining the theme of their submission and a brief overview of the manuscript’s content.