Aquatic Macrophytes as Nature-Based Solutions: Challenges and Opportunities Across Inland and Coastal Waters

Authors

• Morgan Botrel, McGill University
• Roxane Maranger, Université de Montréal
• Lindsay L. Trottier, McGill University
• Mathieu Cusson, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
• Lars L. Iverson, McGill University
• Fanny Noisette, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Christian Nozais, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Katrine Turgeon, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
• Andrea Bertolo, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR)
• Thibaud André-Alphonse, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
• Simon Bélanger, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Arthur de Grandpré, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR)
• Jean-Olivier Goyette, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
• Sabine Hilt, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB-Berlin), Berlin, Germany
• Ladd Johnson, Université Laval
• Valérie Langlois, McGill University
• Martin Laporte, Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en limnologie (GRIL), Montreal, Canada
• Félix Lauzon, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Rimouski, Canada
• Brigitte Légaré, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Anne Ola, Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
• Marie-Pomme Presne-Poissant, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Matthieu Prugne, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)
• Caroline Susini, Université de Montréal
• Richard Zimmerman, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0002-9399-4264 (Zimmerman)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1002/lol2.70145

Publication Title

Limnology and Oceanography Letters

Volume

11

Issue

4

Pages

e70145

Abstract

Macrophytes are foundation species whose use as nature-based solution (NbS) in aquatic ecosystems can help reduce climate change impacts while mitigating biodiversity loss. The discrepancy in research and application of macrophytes as NbS across inland and marine coastal ecosystems is an opportunity to expand the concept and learn from different approaches. We report on an initiative uniting marine and freshwater scientists that compared knowledge on macrophytes as NbS across realms, identified advances and gaps in their use, and synthesized challenges and opportunities for application. We conducted a bibliometric analysis and an expert participatory exercise around recent review papers. We reveal that most NbS papers on macrophytes are marine-focused, with distinct topics emphasized across realms, highlighting complementarity of expertise and potential extension to inland waters. We provide recommendations to encourage researchers and stakeholders to embrace the value of macrophytes across a broad range of contexts for a more sustainable future.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Data Availability

Article states: "All the data used for this paper are openly available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15785463."

Original Publication Citation

Botrel, M., Maranger, R., Trottier, L. L., Cusson, M., Iversen, L. L., Noisette, F., Nozais, C., Turgeon, K., Bertolo, A., André-Alphonse, T., Bélanger, S., de Grandpré, A., Goyette, J., Hilt, S., Johnson, L., Langlois, V., Laporte, M., Lauzon, F., Légaré, B.,…Gregory-Eaves, I. (2026). Aquatic macrophytes as nature-based solutions: Challenges and opportunities across inland and coastal waters. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 11(4), Article e70145. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70145

Repository Citation

Botrel, Morgan; Maranger, Roxane; Trottier, Lindsay L.; Cusson, Mathieu; Iverson, Lars L.; Noisette, Fanny; Nozais, Christian; Turgeon, Katrine; Bertolo, Andrea; André-Alphonse, Thibaud; Bélanger, Simon; Grandpré, Arthur de; Goyette, Jean-Olivier; Hilt, Sabine; Johnson, Ladd; Langlois, Valérie; Laporte, Martin; Lauzon, Félix; Légaré, Brigitte; Ola, Anne; Presne-Poissant, Marie-Pomme; Prugne, Matthieu; Susini, Caroline; and Zimmerman, Richard, "Aquatic Macrophytes as Nature-Based Solutions: Challenges and Opportunities Across Inland and Coastal Waters" (2026). OES Faculty Publications. 580.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/580