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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vladimir Dvoretsky

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Guest Editor

Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, 183010 Murmansk, Russia
Interests: arctic marine zooplankton; copepods; pelagic ecosystems; biodiversity; community ecology; biological oceanography; arctic shelf; barents sea

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arctic regions have experienced strong environmental fluctuations in the past few decades and this has led to changes in primary production and species composition, as well as top-down trophic cascade effects on aquatic ecosystems. Zooplankton assemblages are key links in marine and freshwater ecosystems, connecting primary producers with higher trophic levels. They serve as a food base for many fisheries located in sub-Arctic and Arctic regions. Zooplankton organisms are known to be effective indicators of environmental changes, including climatic impacts and anthropogenic influences. Despite recent advances in Arctic plankton research, there are many problems that remain to be solved.

This Special Issue aims to improve our knowledge of Arctic and sub-Arctic zooplankton, including their biodiversity, structure, functioning, environmental impact, dynamics, the life cycles of common taxa, the impacts of anthropogenic stressors, their feeding ecology, and food web interactions. We encourage you to submit articles ranging from descriptive and case reports to experimental and interdisciplinary studies.

Dr. Vladimir Dvoretsky
Guest Editor

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. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 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

zooplankton
copepods
diversity
community structure
abundance dynamics
Arctic ecosystems
climatic response
environmental impact

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1773 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Factors Controlling Zooplankton Communities in Thermokarst Lakes of the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra Permafrost Peatlands (NE Europe)

by Elena I. Sobko, Liudmila S. Shirokova, Sergey I. Klimov, Artem V. Chupakov, Svetlana A. Zabelina, Natalia V. Shorina, Olga Yu. Moreva, Anna A. Chupakova and Taissia Ya. Vorobieva

Water 2023, 15(3), 511; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15030511 - 27 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2029

Abstract

Environmental physical and chemical factors controlling the abundance and biodiversity of zooplankton in permafrost-affected lakes are poorly known yet they determine the response of aquatic ecosystems to on-going climate change and water warming. Here, we assess the current status of zooplankton communities in lakes of the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra (permafrost peatlands of NE Europe), and provide new information about the composition and structure of zooplankton. The results demonstrate that the structure of zooplankton communities is influenced by the morphometric features of lakes and the degree of lake overgrowth by macrophytes. According to the level of quantitative development of zooplankton, most tundra lakes were of the oligotrophic type with an average wet biomass of up to 1 g/m³. The largest number of species was observed in zooplankton communities of small thaw ponds with an area of up to 0.02 km² and overgrown with macrophytes. The analysis of factors that influence the formation of the lake zoocenosis demonstrated that the species composition and quantitative characteristics of zooplankton are chiefly controlled by pH and water mineralization. A comparison of the results obtained with the literature data on the lakes of this region collected 60 years ago suggests that the ecosystems of these lakes are in a stable state. Overall, these new insights will improve our knowledge of factors controlling the zooplankton spatial dynamics in unique but quite abundant thermokarst lakes of NE European Tundra, subjected to on-going climate warming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zooplankton in Arctic Waters: Diversity, Dynamics and Ecology)

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Review

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25 pages, 6379 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Ecology and Distribution of Red King Crab Larvae in the Barents Sea: A Review

by Vladimir G. Dvoretsky and Alexander G. Dvoretsky

Water 2022, 14(15), 2328; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14152328 - 27 Jul 2022

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2897

Abstract

The red king crab (RKC) is a large invasive species inhabiting bottom communities in the Barents Sea. Larval stages of RKC play an important role in determining the spread and recruitment of the population in the coastal waters. We present a review of studies concerned with the ecology of RKC larvae in the Barents Sea focusing on their dynamics and role in the trophic food webs as well as on the role of environmental factors in driving RKC zoeae. Zoeal stages are larger, and their development time is shorter in the Barents Sea compared to the North Pacific. RKC larvae appear in late January–February and can be found in the coastal plankton until mid-July. Mass hatching of RKC larvae in the Barents Sea starts in late March-early April. The highest densities of RKC larvae are located in small semi-enclosed bays and inlets with weak water exchange or local eddies as well as in inner parts of fjords. Size structures of the zoeal populations are similar in the inshore waters to the west of Kola Bay but slightly differ from those in more eastern regions. RKC larvae perform daily vertical migrations and move to deeper depths during bright daylight hours and tend to rise during night hours. RKC larvae are plankton feeders that ingest both phyto- and zooplankton. A set of environmental variables including food conditions, water temperature, and advective influence are the most important factors driving the spatial distribution, phenology, survival rates, development, growth, and interannual fluctuations of RKC larvae. Recent climatic changes in the Arctic may have both negative and positive consequences for RKC larvae. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zooplankton in Arctic Waters: Diversity, Dynamics and Ecology)

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