Physiological Processes, Disease Progression, Behavior Change and Population Dynamics of Fish in Response to External Environmental Stresses

Fish are integral to maintaining the stability and health of aquatic ecosystems, which provide essential biological resources crucial for sustainable human development. However, a multitude of factors—such as hydrological changes, biological invasions, global climate change, excessive nutrient influx, heavy metal contamination, microplastics, and cyanotoxins—have significant impacts on these environments. These factors collectively influence the physiology, behavior, distribution, and survival of fish species. Consequently, the effective management, assessment, and protection of fish are urgent and critically important for human well-being and sustainable development. This includes the development of new methods or technologies for monitoring population dynamics, physiological processes, and disease progression.

This Research Topic serves as a call to action for the effective management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and the sustainable management of fish resources. Topics to be addressed may include the management of fish resources, biodiversity conservation, as well as the assessment, management, and conservation of endemic, endangered, and commercially valuable species within the evolving context of climate change and environmental stressors.

Key areas include but are not limited to the following subtopics:

• Effects of external stress (including pollution and/or climate change caused by human activities) on physiology and/or behavior of fish (e.g., metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammation), and/or the relevant biochemical mechanisms, including the systematic information obtained by omics analysis or relevant signaling pathways.

• New methods and technologies for measuring physiological processes and disease development in fish (e.g., metabolic, reproduction, gonadal development, and steatosis).

• The impact of human activities, such as water conservation and hydropower projects, on fish populations and their environments.

• Investigating the impacts of invasive species on native fish populations and the broader environment.

• Ecological restoration for marine and freshwater fish ecosystems.

• Changes in fish resources caused by human activities.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: environment, fish, biological resources, behavior, physiology, biological invasion, ecological restoration

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.