DNA-Based Biomonitoring of Aquatic Ecosystems
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 8654
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Human-induced environmental changes threaten water security and the survival of species. Recently, it is estimated that the Living Planet Index (LPI) of freshwater vertebrates such as fish and amphibians dropped to one-third of that recorded in 1970. Therefore, monitoring aquatic biodiversity and species distribution across space and time is critical to mitigate biodiversity loss and ensure eco-environmental management. Recently, DNA-based biomonitoring (e.g., DNA barcoding or metabarcoding) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to allow for species identification and monitoring. In particular, the non-invasive attributes of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding provide a promising way to assess biodiversity within different environments, including soil, sediment, water, snow and air. Although DNA-based detection to monitor aquatic biodiversity has rapidly increased and been used to detect complete biodiversity and target species (e.g., endangered, invasive or rare species), there are numerous obstacles to solving the basic and applied problems surrounding this method, for example, the establishing of standardized application methods for DNA-based biomonitoring, eDNA dynamic processes in aquatic ecosystems, and how to use this new tool to identify key stressors in ecosystems.
This Special Issue will provide a platform for research that highlights the utility and diversity of DNA-based research for biodiversity assessments and provides specific implications for stakeholders and governors to enhance eco-environmental management. Therefore, we expect to collect experimental, methodological, and application studies. The topics covered by this Special Issue will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- DNA-based biodiversity surveys, including single- and multi-species detection, abundance estimates, occurrence and spatiotemporal patterns;
- eDNA dynamics in aquatic ecosystems, including eDNA degradation, transport and shedding;
- DNA-based impact assessment, including the ecological risk of pollutants and ecosystem changes under multiple stressors.
Prof. Dr. Yuan Zhang
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 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
- eDNA
- biomonitoring
- biodiversity
- bioassessment
- aquatic ecosystem
- water management
