Biology and Conservation of Tropical Fishes under Global Environmental Change

Tropical fish biology encompasses the ecological, physiological, evolutionary, and behavioural processes that shape the diversity and persistence of fishes in marine, freshwater, and estuarine environments. Tropical fishes support food security, livelihoods, ecosystem functioning, cultural practices, and economies, yet they are increasingly exposed to climate change, habitat degradation, pollution, overexploitation, emerging diseases, and biological invasions. These pressures raise important questions about how tropical fishes respond to rapid environmental change, whether populations and communities can adapt or acclimatize, and which species or ecosystems are most vulnerable. Recent studies show that warming, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, altered rainfall patterns, habitat loss, and extreme events can affect fish growth, reproduction, metabolism, behaviour, distribution, and species interactions. Research has also highlighted the importance of phenotypic plasticity, genetic diversity, ecological connectivity, and refugia in shaping resilience. However, substantial gaps remain in understanding long-term responses, interactions among multiple stressors, differences between tropical regions and ecosystems, and the extent to which laboratory findings reflect conditions in the natural environment. An integrated Research Topic is therefore needed to connect biological mechanisms with population, community, and ecosystem-level consequences.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how tropical fishes respond to global environmental change across different spatial, temporal, and ecological scales. It will examine the mechanisms underlying vulnerability, resilience, acclimatization, adaptation, and recovery, while identifying the biological traits and environmental conditions that influence these responses. The Research Topic will also consider how improved knowledge can support conservation, fisheries management, ecosystem restoration, climate adaptation, and the sustainable use of tropical aquatic resources. Contributions may address questions concerning the consequences of single and cumulative stressors, the role of biodiversity and connectivity in maintaining ecosystem function, and the effectiveness of current monitoring and management approaches.To gather further insights into the biology, ecology, evolution, and conservation of tropical fishes under global change, this Research Topic will focus on tropical marine, freshwater, and estuarine systems, while recognizing regional differences and the limitations of cross-system comparisons. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Physiological and metabolic responses to warming, hypoxia, acidification, salinity change, and other environmental stressorso Thermal tolerance, acclimatization, phenotypic plasticity, and evolutionary adaptationo Effects of climate change on fish growth, reproduction, recruitment, behaviour, functional roles and life-history traitso Changes in species distributions, migration, connectivity, and range shiftso Population genetics, genomics, epigenetics, and adaptive variationo Multiple-stressor interactions and cumulative environmental impactso Tropical fish communities, food webs, species interactions, and ecosystem functioningo Coral reef, mangrove, seagrass, riverine, lake, and estuarine fish ecologyo Impacts of habitat degradation, pollution, overfishing, disease, and invasive specieso Biodiversity loss, ecosystem resilience, and ecological thresholdso Climate refugia, restoration, conservation planning, and protected areaso Fisheries sustainability, food security, and the socio-ecological dimensions of tropical fish managemento Effectiveness of protected areas in safeguarding different facets of fish diversityo Design and implementation of climate-smart conservation strategieso New approaches in monitoring, modelling, remote sensing, and ecological forecastingo Ecotoxicology: microplastics, metals, crude oil, rare earth elements, pharmaceuticals, and emerging elementso Dissolved organic carbon in marine and freshwaterso Ion regulation under extreme environmental changes Topic editors: Thiago Mendes, Adalberto Luis Val Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83184/biology-and-conservation-of-tropical-fishes-under-global-environmental-change