About this Research Topic
The main objective of this Research Topic is to provide new information on the effects of exposure to pollutants on marine biota coupled with climate change effects such as ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation/hypoxia, and related extreme events such as marine heat waves. It is important to understand how marine organisms respond to these environmental drivers at different biological levels of organization (from molecules to ecosystems), to predict future impacts and help to establish adaptation and mitigation strategies.
We welcome contributions concerning the following topics of research:
1. Climate change effects on the toxicity and prevalence of pollutants and their effects on marine biota, eg,
● how extreme events affect the transport and dispersion of pollutants, particulates, nutrients, and oil spills
● how increased ocean temperatures can lead to increased release of chemicals from pollutants such as plastics
● biological effects of increased agricultural/ industrial runoff in coastal areas (eg algal blooms, microbial resistance)
● changes in contaminants’ speciation that can influence their transfer across compartments, bioavailability, and toxicity, eg toxic metals, particularly linked with changes in seawater pH and salinity
2. Ecotoxicological changes (eg, proteomic and metabolomic) resulting from pollution under the influence of climate change, eg,
● changes in species’ metabolic rates
● changes in species tolerance mechanisms to overcome extreme events
● altered biotransformation and detoxification mechanisms
● changes in animals’ microbiota
All article types are welcome, with an emphasis on original research, reviews, and perspectives.
Keywords: pollutants, warming, ocean acidification, toxicity, climate change, pollution, marine, biomarker, marine heat wave, transport, dispersion, transformation, toxicology, ecotoxicology
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.