Uncharted waters: the rise of human-made aquatic environments in the age of the “Anthropocene”

Abstract

Abstract Anthropogenic global change, including direct alteration of landscapes and rapid shifts in climate, is impacting existing aquatic resources negatively, but it is also giving rise to new water bodies. These changes are affecting the types, area and distribution of continental waters worldwide, and altering global biogeochemical cycles. In addition to the provisions that new aquatic systems can provide, their multiplication and diversification pose a global challenge regarding their management as aquatic resources and providers of diverse ecosystems services. They also offer opportunities to explore fundamental and applied ecological questions that can lead to a better understanding of ecosystem function in a rapidly changing world. This paper reviews the various types of human-made aquatic systems and proposes a new term: “anthropohydrocosms”, to designate and contextualize them within the concept of the “Anthropocene”. We also develop a classification scheme and briefly discuss the challenge of assessing their importance in providing sustainable ecosystem services.