Editorial: The effects of environmental change on anchialine ecosystems
Mejía-Ortíz, Luis M, Chávez-Solís, Efraín M, Brankovits, David
This Research Topic was established with the aim to bring together the most recent outcomes and advances from a variety of scientific disciplines that link spatial and temporal changes in the environment to biogeochemical, ecological, and physiological changes at different biological scales in anchialine ecosystems, from microbes and macrofauna to habitat level. We have received contributions from disciplines spanning paleoecology, microbiology, biogeochemistry, and ecophysiology from four geographical regions around the world (Australia, Bermuda, The Bahamas, and the Yucatan Peninsula). Specifically, these studies aimed at characterizing the limits of physiological adaptations of cave-adapted crustaceans, the drivers of organic matter inputs over time, and how organic matter availability regulates microbial community structure and meiofauna assemblages. These contributions expand our understanding of anchialine ecosystem functioning and enable better predictions of future ecological changes within these coastal aquifer habitats.