Marine ecosystems face declining numbers of corals, fish, invertebrates and molluscan organisms due to environmental (ocean warming, ocean acidification, hypoxia, changes of salinity and nutrient redistribution) and direct (overfishing, destructive fishing methods, eutrophication, pollution, tourist-related damage) anthropogenic stressors. This will cause a reduction in marine biodiversity, particularly in climate-sensitive regions, challenging fisheries production and other ecosystem services. Temperatures increases not only negatively impact marine species performance and survival, but also cause species to migrate, placing additional pressure on fishery systems and aquatic ecosystems which are already experiencing overfishing, habitat loss, marine pollution and other stress. This has left coastal communities in developing countries, particularly the small-scale reef fishers and reef-based tourism sectors, in an unsustainable and unprotected state.
In tropical regions, temperature is the fundamental environmental factor controlling reproduction-related physiological activities of fish and other aquatic organisms. Consequently, tropical fish, marine invertebrates and other microorganisms are particularly sensitive to climate change since they develop in a relatively stable thermal environment. The reproduction and growth of fish species may sometimes improve with slight temperature increases, however the opposite effect is seen if temperatures increase significantly. Seasonal or regional temperature change also affects fish reproduction and disease outbreaks; increasing temperatures indicate reproductive development in spring-spawning species, and falling temperatures stimulate reproduction in autumn-spawners. This affects a plethora of reproductive processes from gamete development and maturation, ovulation and spermiation, spawning, embryogenesis and hatching to larval and juvenile development and survival.
Marine ecosystems are among the most productive and biodiverse in the world specifically the coral reef ecosystems that provide environmental services (biodiversity), nutrition (food security/livelihood), revenue (economic), pharmaceutical research and coastal protection. Diverse coral symbiotic microbes, for example, directly mediate the health and ecosystem functioning of coral reefs via contribution to their nutrient cycle. Anthropogenic stressors and climate change are the greatest threats to these systems, negatively affecting aquatic organisms, migration patterns and vibriosis disease outbreaks in fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, assessing biodiversity resources, migration pattern, and marine ecosystems will provide hard evidence (a fingerprint) of the impacts of environmental and anthropogenic stressors.
This interdisciplinary Research Topic aims to bring together current research on the migration pattern of fish, dispersal of microorganisms, and microbial ecology across different global climatic regions. In addition, there remains a gap in our understanding of marine ecological processes such as the migration patterns of aquatic species and their microbiome. Therefore, a complete understanding of marine organisms, fish and their impact on the marine ecosystem (including the recent vibriosis outbreak in aquatic organisms due to a rise in sea water temperatures) is essential to understand their abundance, structure, and migration pattern and thus improve ecosystem health, as well as the sustainable management of marine resources.
We will focus particularly on the distribution, abundance, structure, phylogeography, and migration of microorganisms in the marine ecosystem due to climate change impacts. We particularly encourage inter- and multi-disciplinary research approaches such as molecular ecology, biodiversity of marine organisms, microbial ecology, marine microbiome, coral reef-associated microorganisms, and population genetics.
We welcome manuscripts on the following subjects in the context of the above goal:
(i) Migration/spreading of microorganisms and marine species in aquatic ecosystems (e.g. fish, marine invertebrates) due to the impact of climate change
(ii) Molecular ecology of aquatic organisms, including fish
(iii) Coral-reef-associated microorganisms and their impact on coral microbiome due to climate change
(iv) Biodiversity of aquatic organisms
(v) Vibrio spp. and vibriosis disease outbreak in aquatic organisms (both aquaculture and fisheries) due to sea temperature rise
Marine ecosystems face declining numbers of corals, fish, invertebrates and molluscan organisms due to environmental (ocean warming, ocean acidification, hypoxia, changes of salinity and nutrient redistribution) and direct (overfishing, destructive fishing methods, eutrophication, pollution, tourist-related damage) anthropogenic stressors. This will cause a reduction in marine biodiversity, particularly in climate-sensitive regions, challenging fisheries production and other ecosystem services. Temperatures increases not only negatively impact marine species performance and survival, but also cause species to migrate, placing additional pressure on fishery systems and aquatic ecosystems which are already experiencing overfishing, habitat loss, marine pollution and other stress. This has left coastal communities in developing countries, particularly the small-scale reef fishers and reef-based tourism sectors, in an unsustainable and unprotected state.
In tropical regions, temperature is the fundamental environmental factor controlling reproduction-related physiological activities of fish and other aquatic organisms. Consequently, tropical fish, marine invertebrates and other microorganisms are particularly sensitive to climate change since they develop in a relatively stable thermal environment. The reproduction and growth of fish species may sometimes improve with slight temperature increases, however the opposite effect is seen if temperatures increase significantly. Seasonal or regional temperature change also affects fish reproduction and disease outbreaks; increasing temperatures indicate reproductive development in spring-spawning species, and falling temperatures stimulate reproduction in autumn-spawners. This affects a plethora of reproductive processes from gamete development and maturation, ovulation and spermiation, spawning, embryogenesis and hatching to larval and juvenile development and survival.
Marine ecosystems are among the most productive and biodiverse in the world specifically the coral reef ecosystems that provide environmental services (biodiversity), nutrition (food security/livelihood), revenue (economic), pharmaceutical research and coastal protection. Diverse coral symbiotic microbes, for example, directly mediate the health and ecosystem functioning of coral reefs via contribution to their nutrient cycle. Anthropogenic stressors and climate change are the greatest threats to these systems, negatively affecting aquatic organisms, migration patterns and vibriosis disease outbreaks in fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, assessing biodiversity resources, migration pattern, and marine ecosystems will provide hard evidence (a fingerprint) of the impacts of environmental and anthropogenic stressors.
This interdisciplinary Research Topic aims to bring together current research on the migration pattern of fish, dispersal of microorganisms, and microbial ecology across different global climatic regions. In addition, there remains a gap in our understanding of marine ecological processes such as the migration patterns of aquatic species and their microbiome. Therefore, a complete understanding of marine organisms, fish and their impact on the marine ecosystem (including the recent vibriosis outbreak in aquatic organisms due to a rise in sea water temperatures) is essential to understand their abundance, structure, and migration pattern and thus improve ecosystem health, as well as the sustainable management of marine resources.
We will focus particularly on the distribution, abundance, structure, phylogeography, and migration of microorganisms in the marine ecosystem due to climate change impacts. We particularly encourage inter- and multi-disciplinary research approaches such as molecular ecology, biodiversity of marine organisms, microbial ecology, marine microbiome, coral reef-associated microorganisms, and population genetics.
We welcome manuscripts on the following subjects in the context of the above goal:
(i) Migration/spreading of microorganisms and marine species in aquatic ecosystems (e.g. fish, marine invertebrates) due to the impact of climate change
(ii) Molecular ecology of aquatic organisms, including fish
(iii) Coral-reef-associated microorganisms and their impact on coral microbiome due to climate change
(iv) Biodiversity of aquatic organisms
(v) Vibrio spp. and vibriosis disease outbreak in aquatic organisms (both aquaculture and fisheries) due to sea temperature rise