Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Stressors: Influences on Earth’s Wetlands – An Aquatic Biodiversity Perspective

Earth’s wetlands have become hot spots of major environmental changes during the Anthropocene; almost all of them can offer valuable case studies due to the fact that some of their ecological characteristics and qualities have been under a trend of decreasing condition in the last decades. Due to direct and indirect human activities, negative effects on wetlands are constantly increasing. These highly complex and valuable ecosystems are mostly threatened by many stressors, such as climate changes, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, pollution, habitat fragmentation, living and non-living resource overexploitation, invasive species, parasite and disease outbreaks, human conflicts, and warfare, etc. Those stressors significantly influence the extremely complex matrix of ecosystem structures, functions, and ecological state dynamics of wetlands, and consequently their capacity to offer sustainable products and services to human societies. Being aware of the wide occurrence and magnitude of the effects of XXI century anthropogenic stressors on Earth’s wetlands ecosystems is crucial to understanding their responses and identifying ways to protect and preserve them.

This Research Topic intends to bring together scientists with deep and sound scientific knowledge about these areas to seek new paths for understanding and conservation of their elements and processes. The main objective of this Research Topic is to identify, characterize, and catalog ecological problems, threats, risks, and trends determined by the impacts of natural and/or anthropogenic stressors on extremely valuable wetlands around the globe. We are particularly interested in studies that use one or many taxonomical groups of fish with a significant bio-eco indicator value. Contributions focused on the individuals, populations, species, associations, communities, habitats, and ecosystem processes that support the ecological assessment, monitoring, and sustainable management of wetlands are of particular interest.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas: natural and anthropogenic stressors impacting on Earth’s Wetlands fish individuals, populations, species, associations, communities, habitats, ecosystem structures, functions, and biological and ecological state.

Authors are encouraged to submit their original research and review ideas via an abstract and the first topic editor will respond with appropriate feedback.

Keywords: Fish Associations, monitoring, assessment, management, fish, population, habitat, communities, ecosystem, anthropogenic stressors, risks, aquatic, semi-aquatic, wetland, species diversity, biodiversity, natural stressors, sustainable

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.