Canals are artificial or modified watercourses constructed to convey water for navigation, irrigation, drainage, water supply, or flood control. As engineered lentic-to-lotic environments they occupy a distinct place within inland-water science, combining managed hydrology with ecological processes characteristic of…
Canals are artificial or modified watercourses constructed to convey water for navigation, irrigation, drainage, water supply, or flood control. As engineered lentic-to-lotic environments they occupy a distinct place within inland-water science, combining managed hydrology with ecological processes characteristic of standing and slow-flowing freshwaters. Because canals often connect previously separate water bodies, maintain relatively stable flow, and pass through agricultural and urban catchments, they accumulate nutrients, sediments, and pollutants and provide habitat that can favour particular aquatic organisms. In a limnological and public-health context, canals are important as transmission settings for freshwater snails that act as intermediate hosts of waterborne parasites, and as receiving waters for organic pollutants, pesticides, and effluents that affect water quality and aquatic life. Their study draws on assessment of physico-chemical variables, bioindicator organisms such as mosquito larvae and macroinvertebrates, and analysis of contaminant burdens in water, sediment, and fish tissue. Research relevant to this area examines the prevalence and control of medically important freshwater snails in canals, the impact of agrochemicals on aquatic invertebrates, and organic-pollutant contamination of canal-associated streams and fish. The journal publishes peer-reviewed studies on the ecology, water quality, and management of canals and other inland aquatic environments.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 67 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Canals, linking to each citing work.