Attività editoriale per la rivista internazionale Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (MDPI Publisher)- Distribution and Metabolic Activities of Marine Microbial Communities in Response to Natural and Anthropogenic Forcings

Marine ecosystems are experiencing rapid natural and anthropogenic changes. Within microbial loop, microbes can modulate their community distribution, structure, and metabolism to cope with natural/anthropogenic stressors, acting as sentinels of environmental variations. Changes in temperature, pH, water circulation, and nutrient distribution often occur simultaneously, and the effects of these stressors can be combined, resulting in unexpected microbial feedbacks. Moreover, extrapolation of the effects of variations occurring in microbial structure and function to large-scale processes is difficult, and hence microbial responses to environmental changes across a variety of marine ecosystems are far from being predictable. Nevertheless, new observations and experiments, together with analytical advances, may allow us to gain detailed insights into how microorganisms (free-living or particle-attached) are responding to stressors, so contributing to predictions of future scenarios and to guide decision makers. Papers focusing on pelagic and benthic microbial communities of temperate, tropical, and polar regions and their variations in response to natural/anthropic changes are welcome.