World Atlas of Freshwater Macrophytes

This book is the first volume of a compendium of the global distribution some 3500 aquatic macrophyte species occurring in inland freshwater and brackish waterbodies worldwide, highlighting aspects of their ecology including endemism, world rarity, ecozone/ macroregional occurrence, ploidy state, species age, uses, and endangered status. Although similar books exist for local regions (e.g., the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil) none provides complete and detailed information for macrophytes at global scale, so this book provides a novel resource on the distribution and ecology of macrophytes around the world.

The Atlas fills a gap in scientific knowledge of the global ecology of an important group of aquatic plants. It highlights the expansion of invasive species and describes hotspots of endemism and rarity for freshwater macrophytes across the planet. The data included in this book range from karyological to biogeographical studies on macrophytes, within a general theme of understanding the environmental factors that drive the biodiversity, ecology, landscape genetics, and conservation of aquatic plants in freshwater ecosystems. The first volume of the World Atlas of Freshwater Macrophytes: Dicotyledonous species I (Acanthaceae – Menyanthaceae) covers 33 botanical families and 760 species of aquatic macrophytes.

The authors, based in Mexico, Scotland, Spain, and the USA are members of an informal international research network, set up in 2017 by retired aquatic botanist Kevin Murphy, which is dedicated to advancing macroecological knowledge of freshwater macrophytes in the inland freshwater and brackish waterbodies of worldwide wetland ecosystems.

The topic of this book is relevant not only to scholars and academics but also to practitioners in wetland management, decision makers, and aquatic plant hobbyists.

Dr. Tatiana Lobato-de Magalhães is a Research Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro (UAQ), QRO, Mexico, and has specialised in wetland research and education for more than 10 years, with a strong focus on ecology, landscape genetics, and distribution of aquatic plants. Her work includes research projects and teaching across the Americas, including the Amazon and Southern Brazil Highlands. She is an associate editor of an international book series (Wetland Ecology, Management, and Conservation), scientific journals (Wetlands, Aquatic Botany), International Chapter Chair at the Society of Wetland Scientists (2016-2025) and Lead of the Wetland Environments Specialist Group of the Commission on Ecosystem Management of the IUCN. She published about 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles and the books ‘Wetlands for Remediation in the Tropics’ and ‘Insights into Sustainable Management of Water and Wetlands in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.’ Tatiana is recognized by the National System of Researchers in Mexico and certificated as a Professional Wetland Scientist by PCPSWS. She was awarded the Academic Merit medal by the UAQ, José Mariano Mociño medal by the Mexican Society of Botany, Distinguished Foreign Scholar by the International Association for Landscape Ecology, and Research Fellow Wetland Ambassadors by the Society of Wetland Scientists. 

Dr. Kevin Murphy is a Senior Lecturer (retired) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His research emphasizes plant and freshwater ecology, particularly the role of vegetation in the biodiversity support functioning of aquatic ecosystems, and the macroecology of freshwater macrophytes. He has extensive experience in applied ecological work on sustainable development issues in a range of temperate, tropical and sub-tropical aquatic and wetland habitats (primarily in Europe, Africa, and South America), plus applied studies of vegetation management and eutrophication management in aquatic habitats worldwide. He was involved in a series of studies in South America, concentrating on the ecology of the Rio Paraná, one of the world’s largest regulated river systems. After retiring from the University of Glasgow, he set upan informal international research network in 2017 dedicated to advancing macroecological knowledge of freshwater macrophytes. This has to date produced a number of well-received publications collectively-authored by network collaborators.

Dr. Marinus L. Otte is a Professor at North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Originally from the Netherlands, Marinus has studied wetlands around the world, particularly in The Netherlands, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, China, Taiwan, Mexico, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Minnesota. His research has focused on biogeochemistry, plant ecophysiology, metal tolerance in wetland plants, constructed wetlands for water quality improvement and restoration of wetlands. He has been the Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal WETLANDS since 2012, which has provided him with the widest overview possible of current wetland science. He has been the recipient of two Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative Awards (2016, 2019), and was awarded a Fulbright Specialist award in 2021. His recent activities focus on watershed-level issues with water availability and quality and implications for indigenous people.

Dr. Eugenio Molina Navarro is an Associate Professor at the University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain, where he belongs to the Research Group in Water, Climate and Environment (ACMA). He teaches in the BSc in Environmental Sciences and in the MSc in Geographic Information Technologies. Eugenio has developed his academic career with a multidisciplinary perspective, focused on answering scientific and management questions regarding water availability and quality, particularly regarding the prospective impacts of climate change. Eugenio’s career is also internationally oriented, highlighted by a 3.5-year postdoc at Aarhus University (2015-2019). He has participated in 25 research projects and contracts, leading four of them, and is co-author of more than 60 scientific publications, including 35 WOS-indexed papers. He is also associate editor of the journal Limnetica. Besides, Eugenio is co-author of more than 60 conference communications and has peer-reviewed more than 70 manuscripts. He has supervised 17 BSc and 3 MSc theses and is supervising two PhD theses in progress.