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Sustainable Management of Aquatic Ecosystems
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Sustainable Management of Aquatic Ecosystems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 August 2024 | Viewed by 5102

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Renata Dondajewska-Pielka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Water Protection, Faculty of Biology Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
Interests: water quality; lakes eutrophication; aquatic ecosystems; lake restoration; water chemistry; bottom sediments; hydrobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ryszard Gołdyn

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Water Protection, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Interests: water quality; freshwater ecology; aquatic ecosystems; lakes eutrophication; limnology; ecological restoration; phytoplankton ecology; phycology; hydrobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatic ecosystems thrive under multiple pressures created by human activity, which exerts an impact on their structure and functioning as well as water quality. Fishery, variable forms of leisure and recreation, water uptake to meet the demands of local community for drinking water are just a few of them. Water quality is strongly shaped by external sources of pollution, thus actions taken in the watershed affect the hydrochemical and biological status of the aquatic ecosystem as well. Long-term pollution leading to strong eutrophication, acidification or deposition of specific substances in lake sediments, increases the importance of internal sources of nutrients or polluting agents for further functioning of the ecosystem and its services. The latter ones usually require proper water quality, vital for unscathed handling of water resources, while intense recreation, excessive fishery and the inflow of external nutrients may heavily affect lake condition by means of cyanobacterial blooms, fish kills, odours and so on.

The balance between diverse ecosystem services and ecological functioning of aquatic ecosystems is of paramount importance nowadays, especially in the light of future challenges related to global climate changes. Year-to-year scarcity of precipitation and snowless winters results in hydrological droughts, diminishing freshwater resources. At the same time hot summers boost evaporation and enhance cyanobacterial proliferation, while short-term but heavy rainfall events introduce a pulse of nutrients and other polluting agents from the catchment. This shift in hydrological cycle is already observed in all climate zones, being eminently damaging in arid and semi-arid areas.

The twenty-first century model of aquatic ecosystems management requires solutions capable to harmonize variable pressures, balancing them in the name of sustainable development of human activities while preserving natural conditions. So called ‘nature-based solutions’ provide this objective, whether they are aimed at protecting ecosystems from future pollution or restoring them to get rid of an unacceptable state of the ecosystem.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to compile diverse solutions targeted at the sustainable lake management, following the idea of balance between ecosystem services and aquatic ecosystem health and biodiversity.

The Special Issue welcomes papers focused on the solutions and innovations in lake management, with particular emphasis on technical, environmental and economic aspects. The papers must show originality and contribute to the scope of the Special Issue in a form of original research papers and short communications. Reviews highlighting up-to-date concepts along with critical comments are welcome as well. 

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Renata Dondajewska-Pielka
Prof. Dr. Ryszard Gołdyn
Guest Editors

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • aquatic ecosystems
  • lake management
  • nature-based solutions
  • lake restoration
  • lake protection
  • external nutrient loading
  • internal nutrient loading

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4465 KiB  
Article
Sequential Application of Different Types of Coagulants as an Innovative Method of Phosphorus Inactivation, on the Example of Lake Mielenko, Poland
by Jolanta Katarzyna Grochowska, Michał Łopata, Renata Augustyniak-Tunowska and Renata Tandyrak
Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16346; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316346 - 27 Nov 2023
Viewed by 533
Abstract
The process of accelerated eutrophication forces the search for innovative, effective methods to restore the quality of surface waters. This study was conducted on shallow, urban Lake Mielenko (Maximum depth 1.9 m; Mean depth 1.3 m) in the context of implementing a new, [...] Read more.
The process of accelerated eutrophication forces the search for innovative, effective methods to restore the quality of surface waters. This study was conducted on shallow, urban Lake Mielenko (Maximum depth 1.9 m; Mean depth 1.3 m) in the context of implementing a new, sustainable method of lake restoration, i.e., phosphorus inactivation by sequential application of two types of coagulants. Approximately 9.9 tons of polyaluminium chloride (trade name PAX 18) were introduced into the profundal zone of Lake Mielenko, and 9.0 tons of iron chloride (trade name PIX 111) in the coastal area. The applications were divided into two spring and two autumn stages. Before restoration, the mean Pmin. concentration in Lake Mielenko water was 0.031 mg P/L, and TP was in the range of 0.091 to 0.346 mg P/L. After restoration, the average content of Pmin. was 0.007 mg P/L (a decrease of 80%), and the average value of TP was 0.096 mg P/L (a decrease of 72%). The obtained results indicate that phosphorus inactivation does not change nitrogen compounds’ content. However, due to the application of coagulants, P content decreased, i.e., the main factor limiting photosynthesis, which resulted in a significant decrease in primary production in Lake Mielenko. Before restoration, the average content of N-NH4 was 0.100 mg N/L, N-NO3—0.145 mg N/L, Norg. 1.70 mg N/L, and TN—1.86 mg N/L. After restoration, the average content of N-NH4 was 0.096 mg N/L, N-NO3—0.123 mg N/L, Norg. 1.28 mg N/L, and TN—1.50 mg N/L. This also resulted in a reduction in the Norg. content, as well as a reduction in the amount of chlorophyll a (from 30.51 to 13.41 mg/m3), organic compounds (BOD5 from 8.9 to 4.6 mg O2/L), and an increase in water transparency to the bottom (up to 1.45 m on average). The results obtained in Lake Mielenko indicate that the innovative method of phosphorus inactivation, which involves the sequential application of two types of phosphorus-binding preparations, is an excellent solution that ensures higher ecological safety in the coastal areas of the reservoir and also allows for a significant reduction in restoration costs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Aquatic Ecosystems)
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17 pages, 2709 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Various Restoration Techniques on the Content of Selected Ions in Water of an Urban Lake
by Jolanta Katarzyna Grochowska and Renata Augustyniak-Tunowska
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12617; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612617 - 21 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 651
Abstract
The research was carried out on Lake Długie, which, from the mid-1950s was transformed into a receiver for domestic and storm water sewage. Together with the sewage, 51 tons of phosphates, 51 tons of ammonia, 2.6 tons of nitrates, 243 tons of calcium, [...] Read more.
The research was carried out on Lake Długie, which, from the mid-1950s was transformed into a receiver for domestic and storm water sewage. Together with the sewage, 51 tons of phosphates, 51 tons of ammonia, 2.6 tons of nitrates, 243 tons of calcium, and 294 tons of chlorides were introduced into the lake. The lake was completely degraded (P > 4 mg/L, N > 30 mg/L, Cl > 70 mg/L). Cutting off the sewage inflow did not improve the environmental conditions in the water body, which indicated that it was necessary to carry out further protection and restoration treatments: artificial aeration with destratification (1987–2000), a phosphorus inactivation method with the use of PAX 18 liquid coagulant (2001, 2002, 2003), cutting off the inflow of storm water (2015), and biomanipulation via the removal of macrophytes (2020). Research has shown that the protective measures carried out in the lake’s catchment area, in combination with appropriately selected restoration methods, are an example of good practices that enable the improvement of water quality. The phosphate concentrations in the bottom layers of water do not exceed 0.2 mg P/L, and the ammoniacal nitrogen does not exceed 1.2 mg N/L. The chloride content in the lake water is kept at the level of 20 mg Cl/L, and the calcium in the range from 28 to 40 mg Ca/L. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Aquatic Ecosystems)
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20 pages, 5088 KiB  
Article
Water Quality of the Odra (Oder) River before and during the Ecological Disaster in 2022: A Warning to Water Management
by Łukasz Sługocki and Robert Czerniawski
Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8594; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118594 - 25 May 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3443
Abstract
Aquatic ecosystems are under pressure due to human activity. In the summer of 2022, the Odra River (Central Europe) suffered a massive death of fish and mollusks. This paper aims to show selected water quality parameters before and during the ecological disaster and [...] Read more.
Aquatic ecosystems are under pressure due to human activity. In the summer of 2022, the Odra River (Central Europe) suffered a massive death of fish and mollusks. This paper aims to show selected water quality parameters before and during the ecological disaster and find which parameters may have been crucial to the development of this disaster. We used the Kruskal–Wallis test and Spearman’s correlation to check the water parameters’ spatial and temporal diversification. In addition, non-metric multidimensional scaling was performed. The water quality parameters of the Odra system were analyzed in sections: middle Odra, lower Odra, transitional waters, and Szczecin Lagoon. Human activity has led to the formation of a system with unusual characteristics, disturbing the river’s natural continuum and related processes. The year 2022 in the middle Odra differed from the previous years in having a high water temperature (>24 °C), high ammonium concentrations (>4 mg/L), and relatively low nitrate concentrations (<6.5 mg/L). At the same time, salt pollution in the river was very high (maximum 1.4 g/L). In June and July 2022, we observed low chlorophyll a concentrations in the middle Odra (on average 2.3 µg/L and 4.4 µg/L, respectively), presumably due to salinity stress and high temperatures, suppressing freshwater phytoplankton taxa. This circumstance has created the appropriate conditions for developing euryhaline and thermophilic Prymnesium parvum. Because of decaying organisms, hypoxia occurred in the lower Odra (0.26 mg/L of dissolved oxygen in surface waters), and oxygen conditions worsened in the transitional waters (<4 mg/L). The zonal deaths of fish and mollusks result from multiple stressors induced by human activity. This disaster has proven that it is necessary to improve selected water quality parameters to reduce the risk of such disasters. The most urgent recommendations are to reduce the salt pollution of the upper section of the Odra, reduce nutrient inputs, and improve the condition of smaller rivers feeding the main course of the Odra. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Aquatic Ecosystems)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Two Decades of Microplastics Exposure in Romanian Freshwater Fishes
Authors: Roxana Maxim1; Angelica Rusu1; Alexandra Savuca1,2*; Alexandru Chelaru1,2; Ionela-Alexandra Nicolaica2; Maria-Antonia Stauceanu2; Mircea Nicoara1,2*; Dorel Ureche3
Affiliation: 1 Doctoral School of Geosciences, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, No 20A, Carol I Avenue, 700505 Iasi, Romania 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, No 20A, Carol I Avenue, 700505 Iasi, Romania 3 Department of Biology, Ecology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, No 157, Marasesti Street, 600115 Bacau, Romania
Abstract: The inner rivers of Romania have been polluted with microplastics (particles ranging between 50 and 5000 mm in size) since decades, but no scientific paper described it so far. This is the first study to investigate occurrence of microplastic particles in the digestive tracts of fishes from the Oituz River. Hundreds of fish specimens representing all the species from the river’s ichthyocoenosis were sampled by electrofishing at different sampling sites (upstream and downstream) in an interval of twenty years, and the results were compared. Microplastic particles were classified and counted according to morphological type as: fibers, fragments, films, and pellets (in this decreasing order), and their size measured. The microplastics were also counted and classified according to their color (seven groups were recorded, the blue ones being most numerous, followed by black and red). The correlations between fish length, weight and feeding way, and the number of particles found in gastrointestinal tracts were investigated. The main polymers were identified by FTIR spectroscopy.

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