Aquatic publication review (37)

The third anniversary of the outbreak of war in Ukraine recently passed, and the moment coincided with the publication of two articles analyzing the environmental consequences of the destruction of the Novaya Kakhovka dam. This drastic act of military aggression had enormous consequences not only for human life and safety, but also for the environment. Reconstruction of degraded aquatic and wetland ecosystems often requires measures to initiate and accelerate the process, such as the introduction of plantings. Researchers from the Netherlands outline the consequences of such actions on taxonomic diversity and the rate of regeneration.

In turn, researchers from China report that ocean acidification can reduce the uptake of carbon dioxide by eukaryotic phytoplankton in tropical and subtropical waters by up to 10 percent. From the work of our native hydrobiologists, we will learn how passage through the digestive systems of fish and crayfish promotes microplastic degradation. It’s also worth taking a look at two review papers synthesizing our knowledge on modeling the hydrological effects of catchment land use change and the effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NBS) for mitigating the effects of flooding.

1. Kvach Y., Stepien C.A., Minicheva G.G. et al. (2025). Biodiversity effects of the Russia-Ukraine War and the Kakhovka Dam destruction: ecological consequences and predictions for marine, estuarine, and freshwater communities in the northern Black Sea. Ecol Process 14, 22 (2025).

Shumilova O., Sukhodolov A., Osadcha N., et al. (2025). Environmental effects of the Kakhovka Dam destruction by warfare in Ukraine. Science 387, 1181-1186

The war in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than three years, is generating significant environmental damage in addition to destroying human life and health. Dams, as elements of water security infrastructure, have become targets of attacks. The destruction of the Novaya Kakhovka power plant dam in June 2023 was one of the more spectacular Russian military actions, leading to catastrophic economic and environmental damage. But it also spawned numerous studies on the various effects of dam destruction. In recent weeks, two articles on the environmental effects of the event have been published in quick succession.

The first paper, published in late February in Ecological Processes, synthesizes the results of four studies conducted at the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, summarizing the effects of war on aquatic organisms and their habitats (marine, estuarine and inland ecosystems). Negative impacts include the release of pollutants; damage to habitats from oil spills, shelling, explosions, floods and fires; and the effects of disregarding the rules of protected areas.

Positive impacts are primarily reduced anthropogenic pressure, thanks to restrictions on shipping, fishing, trawling, recreation, hydraulic engineering, construction and tourism. The authors point out that many of the impacts have been temporary, with habitats and species recovering, with some returning to their historical state, characteristic of lower salinity regimes. However, some effects, such as significant habitat destruction, disturbance and pollution damage, are proving to be quite permanent. The authors predict that the ecological resilience of the area’s communities is likely to enable them to survive and adapt to the effects of the war.

The second paper, which appeared in mid-March in the pages of Science, deals with the problem of pollution from reservoir sediments that were released into the environment as a result of the dam’s destruction. An international team of scientists (among whom Ukrainian researchers make a significant contribution), analyzed the long-term effects of exposing large areas previously flooded with water. Their results show that the draining of the reservoir exposed bottom sediments containing more than 83,000 tons of highly toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and nickel, more than 1 percent of which were likely released into the environment when the reservoir was emptied.

The remainder, deposited in the drained sediments, enters surface waters due to erosion, through surface runoff and seasonal flooding, and can negatively affect the region’s residents, who commonly use river water in households to compensate for shortages in the municipal water supply system. One way to mitigate the problem is through phytoremediation as a result of vegetation succession, which is observed in the areas following the Kachow Reservoir.

2 Alderson R., van Leeuwen C.H.A., Bakker E.S., et al. (2025). Active wetland restoration kickstarts vegetation establishment, but natural development promotes greater plant diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology

The recovery of degraded ecosystems often requires human intervention to initiate and accelerate regeneration. The question is whether we can manage the process wisely and consciously enough to help rather than harm. Dutch scientists have studied how the management of a degraded wetland ecosystem, subjected to restoration efforts, affects biodiversity and the rate of recovery. Based on the results of a six-year experiment conducted on the Marker Wadden artificial archipelago, created on Lake Markermeer in the Netherlands, they found that the introduction of common reed plantings and their protection from gnawing significantly accelerated succession in the study area, but that the resulting plant formation was very species-poor.

Greater diversity was achieved when the planted vegetation was subjected to pressure from herbivores (in this case, geese). The slowest regeneration process occurred in the part of the ecosystem left to spontaneous succession, but the highest plant species richness was found there. This means that when designing measures aimed at the restoration of degraded ecosystems, it is necessary to consider the trade-off between the quality of the results obtained and the time needed to achieve them.

3 Dai R., Wen Z., Hong H., et. al. al. (2025). Eukaryotic phytoplankton drive a decrease in primary production in response to elevated_CO2 in the tropical and subtropical oceans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.122 (11) e2423680122

Marine phytoplankton account for about 45 percent of global net primary production. However, ocean acidification caused by rising carbon dioxide concentrations from anthropogenic sources is likely to affect the productivity of this group of organisms, although the extent and directions of change are not yet well understood. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyze the response of phytoplankton to increased acidification in the oligotrophic waters of the western North Pacific, pointing to projected lower_CO2-fixing efficiency.

The decrease in primary production was shown primarily by small eukaryotic taxa (<20 µm) of phytoplankton, which are limited by low nitrogen levels, while prokaryotic phytoplankton showed little or positive responses to high_CO2 levels. Extrapolating their findings, the researchers predict that within half a century increasing ocean acidification could reduce carbon uptake by eukaryotic phytoplankton in the tropical and subtropical oceans by as much as 5 trillion kg per year, or up to 10 percent.

4. Babkiewicz E., Nowakowska J. Zebrowski M.L. et al. (2025). Microplastic Passage through the Fish and Crayfish Digestive Tract Alters Particle Surface Properties. Environmental Science & Technology

To date, research on the influence of organisms on the circulation and properties of microplastics has mostly concerned microorganisms (bacteria), while the role of large animals, such as fish and crustaceans, in this process is still not recognized. A team of scientists from the UW Department of Biology, together with researchers from other scientific units, undertook the study. They conducted an experiment to analyze how passage through the digestive tract of aquatic animals (carp and Australian crayfish) affects the surface properties, particle size and bacterial colonization of spherical polyethylene microplastic particles (275 μm in diameter).

The results indicate that passage through the gastrointestinal tract of animals alters the properties of microplastics and leads to their fragmentation, but without affecting their chemical composition or penetration into tissues. The data obtained suggest that fish and crayfish foraging plays an important role in the degradation of microplastics in the aquatic environment, promoting their breakdown and facilitating further biodegradation by microorganisms.

5 Howarth M., Smithwick E.A.H., McPhillips L., Mejia A., (2025). Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Fluvial Floods: A Worldwide Systematic Review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: water

Finally, I encourage you to take a look at two interesting review articles published in WIRE’s Water in March. Admittedly, due to their secondary nature, review articles are less valued than original scientific reports, but it’s worth appreciating the effort the authors put into synthesizing our existing knowledge on a topic.

The first paper presents a compendium of knowledge on the effectiveness of using nature-based solutions (NBS) to mitigate river flooding. Based on a review of more than 130 peer-reviewed articles, the authors compare the effectiveness of various solutions globally. The effectiveness of NBS in mitigating flooding was evaluated through a meta-analysis of various metrics, including percentage reduction in flood peak, flood area, peak flow height, peak flow delay, flood volume and flood storage. Analysis of ancillary benefits included more than a dozen categories, including biodiversity, carbon storage, cooling/reduction of heat island effects, erosion control, pollution removal or tourism development.

The review’s conclusions indicate that NBS is not a one-size-fits-all solution for flood mitigation. Admittedly, all measures were able to reduce some river flooding (especially for short, frequently recurring events), but some were more effective at doing so than others. The flood mitigation potential of the NBS was also analyzed by catchment size, which showed that smaller catchments fared better than larger ones. There is a clear need to develop common design and performance evaluation standards for large-scale NBS, as well as to gather guidance on which activities are key to consider and monitor for flood mitigation and interdependent benefits in given areas.

6 Toosi A.S., Batelaan O., Shanafield M., Guan H., (2025). Land Use-Land Cover and Hydrological Modeling: A Review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: water

The second review paper, published in WIRE’s Water in March, deals with modeling hydrological processes associated with land use and land cover changes. In view of the tremendous pace of changes in catchment land use and its hydrological effects, as well as constantly improving methods of acquiring environmental information, there is a need to revise methodological approaches to analyzing these data. Although aerial and satellite remote sensing technologies enable frequent, extensive monitoring of land surface parameters, their spatio-temporal complexity remains untapped in hydrological models. The article reviews advances in modeling approaches and discusses future research needs and directions. A very valuable position for all practitioners in catchment management.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-025-00577-1
doi: 10.1126/science.adn8655
[2] https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70021
[3] https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2423680122
[4] doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c08909
[5] https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.70011
[6] https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.70013