Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

A global hydrology research agenda fit for the 2030s

A group of global hydrology researchers outlines priority research questions for freshwater science through 2030, identifying key knowledge gaps around water quality, ecosystem health, and emerging contaminants including microplastics. The agenda calls for more integrated monitoring and modeling to address growing pressures on freshwater resources worldwide.

2019 Hydrology research 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Present and future of aquatic sciences: The perspective of AIOL scientific community for a priority roadmap over the next five years

Italian aquatic scientists outlined their research priorities for the next five years, emphasizing that aquatic ecosystems face growing challenges from human activities including plastic pollution, climate change, and overuse of water resources. The roadmap calls for better integration of science into water governance and public policy.

2018 Advances in Oceanography and Limnology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Maximizing Benefits to Nature and Society in Techno-Ecological Innovation for Water

This review advocates for nature-based solutions in water management, arguing that integrating ecological approaches alongside conventional engineering can maximize benefits for both biodiversity and human water security.

2021 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Hitting the sweet spot of complexity: Reasons why the development of new custom-tailored models is still warranted and should be encouraged in aquatic sciences

This paper discusses why process-based computer models of freshwater ecosystems need to strike a balance between complexity and usability. Such models are increasingly used to study how pollutants like microplastics move and accumulate in aquatic environments.

2021 Journal of Limnology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Time for decisive actions to protect freshwater ecosystems from global changes

This review called for decisive actions to protect freshwater ecosystems from global changes including climate change, habitat modification, pollution, and invasive species, emphasizing the critical services these ecosystems provide to humans.

2022 Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Standardized Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Biological Index Method for Ecosystem Health Evaluation in Large Waters of Aquaculture Type

Researchers developed a standardized fuzzy comprehensive evaluation biological index method for assessing ecosystem health in large aquaculture-type water bodies, providing a more nuanced tool for monitoring river and lake ecosystem conditions under increasing human environmental pressure.

2022 Academic Journal of Environmental Biology
Article Tier 2

Water Quality Modelling, Monitoring, and Mitigation

This special issue review examines advances in water quality modelling, monitoring, and mitigation approaches, noting that while models and indices have become central tools for water resource management, site-specific limitations and high uncertainty in predictions remain key challenges for reliably assessing freshwater body health.

2022 Applied Sciences 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi-Interacting Natural and Anthropogenic Stressors on Freshwater Ecosystems: Their Current Status and Future Prospects for 21st Century

This review examines how multiple environmental stressors including pollution, climate change, invasive species, and nanoparticles are simultaneously degrading freshwater ecosystems worldwide. The combined effects of these stressors, including microplastic contamination, threaten both the ecological health of freshwater systems and the clean water supplies that human civilization depends on.

2024 Water 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Redefining Water Treatment: Identification of WWTPs as an Earth System Problem and Circular Economic Eco-Bog System to Challenge It

This paper argues that wastewater treatment plants should be reconceptualized as Earth system problems rather than isolated infrastructure, because the daily discharge of microplastics and other contaminants creates complex, poorly understood ecological effects at a planetary scale.

2021 European Journal of Environment and Earth Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic ecosystem indices, linking ecosystem health to human health risks

Researchers reviewed indicators used to assess aquatic ecosystem health and found that most existing tools don't adequately capture the risks that degraded water ecosystems pose to human health and well-being. They propose a new set of combined indicators — covering chemical contaminants, pathogens, and biological markers — to better link ecosystem health monitoring to human health outcomes.

2025 Biodiversity and Conservation 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan

This conservation paper synthesizes the state of global freshwater biodiversity loss — with freshwater vertebrate populations declining twice as steeply as terrestrial or marine populations — and proposes an emergency recovery plan including stronger environmental flows, pollution control, and invasive species management.

2020 BioScience 1091 citations
Article Tier 2

Small Water Bodies in Great Britain and Ireland: Ecosystem function, human-generated degradation, and options for restorative action

Researchers reviewed the ecological roles and human-driven degradation of small headwater streams and ponds in Great Britain and Ireland, finding that agricultural drainage, nutrient runoff, pesticides, and invasive species have severely disrupted these systems, and recommending integrated restoration combining channel, riparian, and catchment-level management.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 143 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Forrageando no Antropoceno: explorando as dinâmicas de reservatórios e poluição plástica em organismos de água doce.

This systematic review examines how reservoir construction and plastic pollution affect freshwater organisms. It highlights that microplastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems threatens the organisms that make up food chains, with potential consequences for the safety of drinking water and freshwater food sources.

2024 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

Future-proofing the emergency recovery plan for freshwater biodiversity

This paper outlines a global emergency recovery plan for freshwater biodiversity, which is declining faster than in any other ecosystem type. The plan identifies six priority actions including improving water quality, restoring habitats, and controlling invasive species. Reducing pollution, including microplastics and other contaminants entering freshwater systems, is a key component of the proposed recovery strategy.

2023 Environmental Reviews 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Watershed Ecohydrological Processes in a Changing Environment: Opportunities and Challenges

This review examines watershed ecohydrological processes under changing environmental conditions, including the impacts of climate change and human activities on water quantity and quality. Researchers propose a new integrated framework for watershed management that incorporates socioeconomic activities alongside ecological and hydrological monitoring. The study identifies emerging environmental concerns, including microplastic pollution, as factors that need to be incorporated into modern watershed management strategies.

2022 Water 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated Approaches to Water Quality Assessment and Treatment: A Comprehensive Review

This comprehensive review integrates physical, chemical, and biological water quality parameters, examines major pollution sources including emerging contaminants like microplastics, and surveys advances in real-time IoT-enabled monitoring and integrated treatment approaches.

2025 Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology
Article Tier 2

A Framework to Identify Priority Areas for Restoration: Integrating Human Demand and Ecosystem Services in Dongting Lake Eco-Economic Zone, China

Researchers developed a framework integrating human demand and ecosystem services to identify priority restoration areas in the Dongting Lake Eco-Economic Zone, enabling more targeted and beneficial ecological restoration planning.

2023 Land 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Knowledge gaps and opportunities in water-quality drivers of aquatic ecosystem health

This report identifies major gaps in scientific understanding of how water quality factors affect the health of aquatic ecosystems. Researchers highlight challenges including nutrient cycling, emerging contaminants like microplastics and pharmaceuticals, and the need for better monitoring tools. The study proposes new research approaches to improve predictions about how water quality changes impact freshwater and coastal environments.

2024 Antarctica A Keystone in a Changing World 8 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics as contaminants in freshwater environments: A multidisciplinary review

This multidisciplinary review covers microplastic sources, abundance, composition, transport, and biological effects in freshwater systems globally, arguing that freshwater environments are both major conduits and sinks for microplastic pollution.

2020 Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimal Allocation of Water Resources Considering Virtual Water Trade: A Case Study of the Yellow River

This study optimizes water resource allocation across the Yellow River basin in China by integrating both physical and virtual water flows. The study is focused on water resource management and is not directly related to microplastic research.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Progress and opportunities in advancing near-term forecasting of freshwater quality

This review examines the current state and future opportunities for near-term freshwater quality forecasting, defined as sub-daily to decadal predictions with quantified uncertainty, which are increasingly needed as climate and land-use change destabilize historical baselines used by water quality managers. The authors identify key gaps in forecasting infrastructure and highlight priorities for advancing predictive models for risks such as harmful algal blooms and flash floods.

2022 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards more ecologically relevant investigations of the impacts of microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems

This review argues that microplastic research in freshwater ecosystems lacks ecological realism, calling for studies that account for realistic exposure concentrations, particle mixtures, and multi-species interactions rather than single-species laboratory tests.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Caribbean small island developing states must incorporate water quality and quantity in adaptive management of the water-energy-food nexus

This paper is not about microplastics; it addresses water-energy-food nexus management and sustainable water resources in Caribbean Small Island Developing States.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 11 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Editorial: Freshwater science in the tropical anthropocene

This editorial introduces a research collection on freshwater science in the tropical Anthropocene, highlighting that tropical freshwater ecosystems face severe threats from urbanization, pollution, and land-use change while remaining understudied compared to temperate systems. The collection emphasizes the need for bioassessment tools, ecosystem restoration approaches, and biodiversity conservation strategies tailored to tropical freshwater environments.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science