Changing human–ecosystem interactions during COVID-19 pandemic: reflections from an urban aquatic ecology perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to over 35 million infections worldwide since December 2019 (dd. October 5, https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases), with besides the immediate repercussions for human health in terms of morbidity and mortality, also both voluntary as well as government-enforced changes in human behavior. In our 2019 paper [1] we reviewed the impact of a range of urban pressures on ecological health of urban waters and identified different steps towards restoring urban waters. We recognized in this paper the need for an integrative assessment of human-ecosystem interactions, building on the One Health approach [2]. In the current paper, we reflect upon the COVID-19 implications for urban aquatic ecology, and focus on two topics, i.e. changing human-nature interactions, and a One Health approach towards restoring urban waters.