Over the next 30 years, the global human population is projected to increase from 7.7 billion to as many as 9.7 billion people, with particularly rapid growth in less-developed areas of the world. Most of this population growth will be centered in urban areas, accelerating the current global trends of increased urbanization. Cities tend to occur near water not only because of our fundamental need for freshwater, but also because of our use of water in travel, commerce, food production, power generation, flood management, and other uses. Consequently, urbanized landscapes, and the human activities associated with them, represent a major threat to the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems (i.e. freshwater, estuarine and coastal). For instance, recent years have witnessed a dramatic human-caused change in the volume, abiotic conditions, and geomorphology of aquatic ecosystems, along with changes in the availability of water in terms of both quality and quantity, and declines in aquatic biodiversity. Understanding the effects of urbanization on aquatic ecosystems is a critical challenge of this century.
Urban land use typically represents a low percentage of total catchment areas, yet it exerts a disproportionately large influence on a large array of aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, urbanization results in a myriad of human-derived impacts on rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, and coastal marine environments. Because fish represent one of the only vertebrates that inhabit all of these types of ecosystems (and some migrate across them), not only might fish disproportionately suffer from urban impacts, but also serve as sentinels of the influence of urbanization in aquatic environments. One of the most obvious and pernicious impacts of urbanization is the release of urban effluents. But human settlements do much more than just emit nutrients, solids, and xenobiotics into aquatic habitats. For example, increased area of impervious surfaces, management of surface and groundwater, modification of native flora in catchments and riparian zones, and introduction of alien species all have direct consequences for the hydrogeochemical regimes and native flora/fauna of aquatic ecosystems and ultimately impacts on fish populations. Accordingly, understanding the responses at different levels of biological organization in fish (genetic, individual, population, and assemblage) and organismal scales (e.g. molecular, cellular, morphological, behavioral), as well as their relationships with the human-modified environmental drivers that modulate them, is mandatory. The better our knowledge, the more effective our management, restoration, and conservation efforts.
This Research Topic collection aims to include contributions that examine changes in fish assemblages, populations, phenotypes, genetics, and their potential ecological, evolutionary, and economic consequences, caused by urban-induced changes in factors such as:
(1) Physical environment (e.g. hydrology, erosion and siltation, water temperature, habitat fragmentation and loss, connectivity between sea and rivers, catchments, and surrounding land-use patterns)
(2) Biotic interactions (riparian structure and processes, fragmentation), biotic interactions (e.g. predation, competition, parasitism), effects of alien species (non-native flora and fauna).
(3) Various types of pollution (e.g. nutrients, salt, metals, trace elements, synthetic organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, artificial light, noise).
Manuscripts addressing major patterns and processes across these themes are welcomed, as well as those evaluating responses to restoration or remediation efforts designed to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization. Owing to the widely recognized importance of urbanization impacts in aquatic ecosystems, we encourage contributions investigating these effects in a variety of systems, such as rivers, estuaries, tidal creeks, lagoons, and coastal areas since they can be severely affected by urban-associated factors such as land-use patterns, effluents, non-native species, artificial lights of cities, port infrastructure, vessel traffic, and recreational use that can all have diverse effects on fishes. Therefore, as we recognize that major patterns in fish responses to urbanization vary among species, types of aquatic ecosystems, and biogeographic regions, we encourage the contribution of studies from diverse fish taxa (systematic coverage), aquatic environments (ecological coverage), and regions around the world (geographic coverage).
Over the next 30 years, the global human population is projected to increase from 7.7 billion to as many as 9.7 billion people, with particularly rapid growth in less-developed areas of the world. Most of this population growth will be centered in urban areas, accelerating the current global trends of increased urbanization. Cities tend to occur near water not only because of our fundamental need for freshwater, but also because of our use of water in travel, commerce, food production, power generation, flood management, and other uses. Consequently, urbanized landscapes, and the human activities associated with them, represent a major threat to the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems (i.e. freshwater, estuarine and coastal). For instance, recent years have witnessed a dramatic human-caused change in the volume, abiotic conditions, and geomorphology of aquatic ecosystems, along with changes in the availability of water in terms of both quality and quantity, and declines in aquatic biodiversity. Understanding the effects of urbanization on aquatic ecosystems is a critical challenge of this century.
Urban land use typically represents a low percentage of total catchment areas, yet it exerts a disproportionately large influence on a large array of aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, urbanization results in a myriad of human-derived impacts on rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, and coastal marine environments. Because fish represent one of the only vertebrates that inhabit all of these types of ecosystems (and some migrate across them), not only might fish disproportionately suffer from urban impacts, but also serve as sentinels of the influence of urbanization in aquatic environments. One of the most obvious and pernicious impacts of urbanization is the release of urban effluents. But human settlements do much more than just emit nutrients, solids, and xenobiotics into aquatic habitats. For example, increased area of impervious surfaces, management of surface and groundwater, modification of native flora in catchments and riparian zones, and introduction of alien species all have direct consequences for the hydrogeochemical regimes and native flora/fauna of aquatic ecosystems and ultimately impacts on fish populations. Accordingly, understanding the responses at different levels of biological organization in fish (genetic, individual, population, and assemblage) and organismal scales (e.g. molecular, cellular, morphological, behavioral), as well as their relationships with the human-modified environmental drivers that modulate them, is mandatory. The better our knowledge, the more effective our management, restoration, and conservation efforts.
This Research Topic collection aims to include contributions that examine changes in fish assemblages, populations, phenotypes, genetics, and their potential ecological, evolutionary, and economic consequences, caused by urban-induced changes in factors such as:
(1) Physical environment (e.g. hydrology, erosion and siltation, water temperature, habitat fragmentation and loss, connectivity between sea and rivers, catchments, and surrounding land-use patterns)
(2) Biotic interactions (riparian structure and processes, fragmentation), biotic interactions (e.g. predation, competition, parasitism), effects of alien species (non-native flora and fauna).
(3) Various types of pollution (e.g. nutrients, salt, metals, trace elements, synthetic organic compounds, pharmaceuticals, artificial light, noise).
Manuscripts addressing major patterns and processes across these themes are welcomed, as well as those evaluating responses to restoration or remediation efforts designed to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization. Owing to the widely recognized importance of urbanization impacts in aquatic ecosystems, we encourage contributions investigating these effects in a variety of systems, such as rivers, estuaries, tidal creeks, lagoons, and coastal areas since they can be severely affected by urban-associated factors such as land-use patterns, effluents, non-native species, artificial lights of cities, port infrastructure, vessel traffic, and recreational use that can all have diverse effects on fishes. Therefore, as we recognize that major patterns in fish responses to urbanization vary among species, types of aquatic ecosystems, and biogeographic regions, we encourage the contribution of studies from diverse fish taxa (systematic coverage), aquatic environments (ecological coverage), and regions around the world (geographic coverage).
