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Advances in next generation sequencing technologies, omics, and bioinformatics are revealing a tremendous and unsuspected diversity of microbes, both at a compositional and functional level. Moreover, the expansion of ecological concepts into microbial ecology has greatly advanced our comprehension of the role microbes play in the functioning of ecosystems across a wide range of biomes. Super-imposed on this new information about microbes, their functions and how they are organized, environmental gradients are changing rapidly, largely driven by direct and indirect human activities. In the context of global change, understanding the mechanisms that shape microbial communities is pivotal to predict microbial responses to novel selective forces and their implications at the local as well as global scale. One of the main features of microbial communities is their ability to react to changes in the environment. Thus, many studies have reported changes in the performance and composition of communities along environmental gradients. However, the mechanisms underlying these responses remain unclear. It is assumed that the response of microbes to changes in the environment is mediated by a complex combination of shifts in the physiological properties, single-cell activities, or composition of communities: it may occur by means of physiological adjustments of the taxa present in a community or selecting towards more tolerant/better adapted phylotypes. Knowing whether certain factors trigger one, many, or all mechanisms would greatly increase confidence in predictions of future microbial composition and processes. This Research Topic brings together studies that applied the latest molecular techniques for studying microbial composition and functioning and integrated ecological, biogeochemical and/or modeling approaches to provide a comprehensive and mechanistic perspective of the responses of micro-organisms to environmental changes. This Research Topic presents new findings on environmental parameters influencing microbial communities, the type and magnitude of response and differences in the response among microbial groups, and which collectively deepen our current understanding and knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of microbial structural and functional responses to environmental changes and gradients in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The body of work has, furthermore, identified many challenges and questions that yet remain to be addressed and new perspectives to follow up on.

microbial community composition --- ecosystem functioning --- next-generation sequencing --- micro-organism --- environmental change --- microbial diversity --- microbial ecology

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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

future climates --- drylands --- ecosystem functioning --- global change --- plant adaptation --- vegetation dynamics

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This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

Science: general issues --- Botany & plant sciences --- future climates --- drylands --- ecosystem functioning --- global change --- plant adaptation --- vegetation dynamics

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Sedimentary habitats cover the vast majority of the ocean floor and constitute the largest ecosystem on Earth. These systems supply fundamental services to human beings, such as food production and nutrient recycling. It is well known that meiofauna are an abundant and ubiquitous component of sediments, even though their biodiversity and importance in marine ecosystem functioning remain to be fully investigated. In this book, the meiofaunal biodiversity trends in marine habitats worldwide are documented, along with the collection of empirical evidence on their role in ecosystem services, such as the production, consumption, and decomposition of organic matter, and energy transfer to higher and lower trophic levels. Meiofaunal activities, like feeding and bioturbation, induce changes in several physico-chemical and biological properties of sediments, and might increase the resilience of the benthic ecosystem processes that are essential for the supply of ecosystem goods and services required by humans. As a key component of marine habitats, the taxonomical and functional aspects of the meiofaunal community are also used for the ecological assessment of the sediments’ quality status, providing important information on the anthropogenic impact of benthos.

Research & information: general --- Biology, life sciences --- Ecological science, the Biosphere --- benthos --- biodiversity --- key --- meiofauna --- taxonomy --- species richness --- β-diversity --- biological traits --- tropical --- marine --- freshwater --- Caribbean --- huntermaniidae --- cletodidae --- rhizotrichidae --- Nannopus --- Monstrillidae --- Monstrillopsis paradoxa sp. nov. --- Monstrillopsis planifrons --- morphological taxonomy --- tagmosis --- male genitalia --- pore pattern --- male/female matching --- marine invertebrate host --- semi-parasitic --- Korea --- free-living marine nematodes --- pictorial key --- macrofauna --- associated fauna --- biological substrate --- species diversity --- community ecology --- benthic ecology --- gastrotricha --- South America --- South Hemisphere --- nuclear genes --- ABGD --- BINs --- DNA barcoding --- mPTP --- dam impact --- estuary --- heavy metals --- free-living nematodes --- density --- diversity --- benthic foraminifera --- checklist --- Kuwait --- Arabian Gulf --- North Adriatic Sea --- trophic status --- prokaryotes --- ecosystem functioning --- sea turtles --- loggerheads --- marine biodiversity --- epibionts --- Florida --- Gulf of Mexico --- meiofauna paradox --- nematodes --- Nematoda --- hotspots --- phoresis --- epibiosis --- ciliophora --- suctorea --- nematoda --- ecology --- new species --- bioindicators

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Sedimentary habitats cover the vast majority of the ocean floor and constitute the largest ecosystem on Earth. These systems supply fundamental services to human beings, such as food production and nutrient recycling. It is well known that meiofauna are an abundant and ubiquitous component of sediments, even though their biodiversity and importance in marine ecosystem functioning remain to be fully investigated. In this book, the meiofaunal biodiversity trends in marine habitats worldwide are documented, along with the collection of empirical evidence on their role in ecosystem services, such as the production, consumption, and decomposition of organic matter, and energy transfer to higher and lower trophic levels. Meiofaunal activities, like feeding and bioturbation, induce changes in several physico-chemical and biological properties of sediments, and might increase the resilience of the benthic ecosystem processes that are essential for the supply of ecosystem goods and services required by humans. As a key component of marine habitats, the taxonomical and functional aspects of the meiofaunal community are also used for the ecological assessment of the sediments’ quality status, providing important information on the anthropogenic impact of benthos.

Research & information: general --- Biology, life sciences --- Ecological science, the Biosphere --- benthos --- biodiversity --- key --- meiofauna --- taxonomy --- species richness --- β-diversity --- biological traits --- tropical --- marine --- freshwater --- Caribbean --- huntermaniidae --- cletodidae --- rhizotrichidae --- Nannopus --- Monstrillidae --- Monstrillopsis paradoxa sp. nov. --- Monstrillopsis planifrons --- morphological taxonomy --- tagmosis --- male genitalia --- pore pattern --- male/female matching --- marine invertebrate host --- semi-parasitic --- Korea --- free-living marine nematodes --- pictorial key --- macrofauna --- associated fauna --- biological substrate --- species diversity --- community ecology --- benthic ecology --- gastrotricha --- South America --- South Hemisphere --- nuclear genes --- ABGD --- BINs --- DNA barcoding --- mPTP --- dam impact --- estuary --- heavy metals --- free-living nematodes --- density --- diversity --- benthic foraminifera --- checklist --- Kuwait --- Arabian Gulf --- North Adriatic Sea --- trophic status --- prokaryotes --- ecosystem functioning --- sea turtles --- loggerheads --- marine biodiversity --- epibionts --- Florida --- Gulf of Mexico --- meiofauna paradox --- nematodes --- Nematoda --- hotspots --- phoresis --- epibiosis --- ciliophora --- suctorea --- nematoda --- ecology --- new species --- bioindicators