About this Research Topic

Background

Within soil, vadose zone and groundwater habitats, microbes play a key role in regulating biogeochemical cycles and perform a large variety of functions, such as decomposition and denitrification. Microbial communities are sensitive to environmental changes and can respond to them rapidly. In different habitats, the composition and function of microbial communities are controlled by different biotic or abiotic factors such as organic matter and salinity, influencing biochemical processes and ecosystem functions. Therefore, to support the development of healthy, stable, and sustainable ecosystems, this research topic focuses on microbial ecological and biogeochemical processes in soil, vadose zone, and groundwater habitats.

Soil habitats such as natural wetlands, landfills, vadose zones, and saturated aquifers are examples of the habitats typically found within soil, vadose zone, and groundwater. The goal of this topic is to outline recent research on the microbial ecological processes of the soil-vadose zone-groundwater habitats and to offer new insights to promote their sustainable development. Microbial ecological and biogeochemical processes in these habitats have become increasingly important and are related to various microbial processes and pathways including material cycle, pollution control, and carbon neutrality. It will also help to clarify essential microbial transformation pathways for groundwater pollution remediation.

This Research Topic will include research articles and reviews on microbial ecological and biogeochemical processes in multi-habitats within soil, vadose zone, and groundwater, focusing on but not limited to the following scopes:

• Microbial ecological and biogeochemical processes in freshwater, saline-alkaline (including coastal), and paddy wetlands.

• Microbial composition, function, and geochemical processes of constructed wetlands.

• Complex microbiome-chemical interaction in landfill carbon-neutral processes (mainly includes processes related to methane emission reduction) and vadose zone.

• Microbial composition and geochemical characteristics , groundwater pollution and their remediation such as ammonium, oxidized contaminants, light, and dense non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL, DNAPL), for example.

Please note that manuscripts based purely on microbial community analyses in the absence of supporting information on microbial chemistry, biogeochemistry, or environmental chemistry will not be accepted for this Research Topic.

Keywords: Microbial Ecological Processes, Wetlands, Landfills, Vadose Zones, Biogeochemical Processes, Groundwater

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.

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