About this Research Topic
Aquatic environments are important for many ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and animal feeding. They are important not only to their local communities but to those surrounding it and even globally. Some examples of such key aquatic ecosystems are corals reefs and mangroves. However, a big portion of the human population lives near aquatic ecosystems and anthropogenic activities have been harming the surrounding environments for centuries. These impacts range from activities such as agriculture, aquaculture and ocean freight, accidental spills during the transport of large masses of harmful materials or those from the human presence such as sewage release, thrash littering and the removal of marginal forests as cities grow larger or for agriculture.
Altogether, these processes and activities are leading often to losses in the diversity and function of these microbial communities. The growing advancements in the study of microbial populations and communities affected by anthropogenic impacts indicated the increase in abundance of genes related to the antibiotic, metal resistance and hydrocarbon degradation. The changes in the diversity also leads to changes in nutrient cycling, food chains, resilience to impacts and capacity to mitigate its effects. Another consequence of human activities is the increased frequency of microbial populations closely related to human and animal pathogens which jeopardize aquaculture.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions of studies related to the anthropogenic impact on the microbial ecology of communities in aquatic ecosystems (including e.g. Original Articles, Methods, Reviews, and Mini Reviews). Submissions with focus on functional analysis as well as longitudinal studies and impact mitigation are encouraged.
We seek to expand on the previous Research Topic "Anthropogenic impacts on the microbial ecology and function of aquatic environments" and welcome studies that investigate and discuss the following themes:
• Effects of pollution and environmental change on microbial communities,
• Changes in microbial processes due to anthropogenic activities,
• Functional analysis of microbial communities,
• Mitigation strategies in aquatic environments,
• Pollution effects on mobile genetic elements,
• The genetic background of tolerance against environmental stressors and pollution.
Altogether, these processes and activities are leading often to losses in the diversity and function of these microbial communities. The growing advancements in the study of microbial populations and communities affected by anthropogenic impacts indicated the increase in abundance of genes related to the antibiotic, metal resistance and hydrocarbon degradation. The changes in the diversity also leads to changes in nutrient cycling, food chains, resilience to impacts and capacity to mitigate its effects. Another consequence of human activities is the increased frequency of microbial populations closely related to human and animal pathogens which jeopardize aquaculture.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions of studies related to the anthropogenic impact on the microbial ecology of communities in aquatic ecosystems (including e.g. Original Articles, Methods, Reviews, and Mini Reviews). Submissions with focus on functional analysis as well as longitudinal studies and impact mitigation are encouraged.
We seek to expand on the previous Research Topic "Anthropogenic impacts on the microbial ecology and function of aquatic environments" and welcome studies that investigate and discuss the following themes:
• Effects of pollution and environmental change on microbial communities,
• Changes in microbial processes due to anthropogenic activities,
• Functional analysis of microbial communities,
• Mitigation strategies in aquatic environments,
• Pollution effects on mobile genetic elements,
• The genetic background of tolerance against environmental stressors and pollution.
Keywords: functional analysis, microbial diversity, pollution, bioremediation, biomonitoring
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
