《水生生態學》及時發表經同行評議的有關淡水、咸水、河口和海洋環境生態學的原始論文。該期刊將刊載關于該領域和實驗室的基礎和應用新研究的論文，包括描述性或實驗性研究。優先考慮處理及時和當前主題的研究，并采取綜合和關鍵的方法。我們不鼓勵那些描述本地生境中水生生物的存在和豐富程度的論文，也不鼓勵那些純粹系統的論文。該雜志為水生生態學家- -湖泊學家和海洋學家一樣- -提供了一個論壇，討論與從個人到人口、到社區和整個生態系統的不同一體化水平的過程和結構有關的生態問題。

Aquatic Ecology publishes timely, peer-reviewed original papers relating to the ecology of fresh, brackish, estuarine and marine environments. Papers on fundamental and applied novel research in both the field and the laboratory, including descriptive or experimental studies, will be included in the journal. Preference will be given to studies that address timely and current topics and are integrative and critical in approach. We discourage papers that describe presence and abundance of aquatic biota in local habitats as well as papers that are pure systematic.The journal provides a forum for the aquatic ecologist - limnologist and oceanologist alike- to discuss ecological issues related to processes and structures at different integration levels from individuals to populations, to communities and entire ecosystems.