As the field of benthic ecology progresses over the years there is an increasing need for detailed data on the response of benthic organisms to environmental change, natural or anthropogenic. Some examples include the tolerance of benthic organisms to climate change such as increasing water temperature or ocean acidification studies, organism respiration rates for metabolic studies, nutrient or organic matter uptake capabilities of benthic organisms and seaweeds for multitrophic aquaculture modelling studies, tolerance to disturbance of macrofaunal species for the development of ecological status indicators, response of coastal ecosystems to specific pressures ( eutrophication, pollution) for benthic-pelagic coupling studies.
Usually, short- or long-term monitoring data have been used for the formation and calibration of mathematical models that can explain the behavior of the studied system and predict its response under specific scenarios. However, field studies do not always provide adequate insight into the mechanisms and processes involved in the response of marine organisms to specific pressures, due to sampling difficulties and lack of comparison to reference conditions. In this context, a targeted experimental design where a single (or a combination of) pressure(s) is applied to the benthic ecosystem and organisms within an adequate isolated water volume is required to study the biological responses to these pressures. With the appropriate experimental design, it is possible to study interactions between organisms and their physical environment and propose dose-response relations of species or whole communities to specific pressures.
This Research Topic aims to gather recent and innovative studies on experiments in benthic ecology. Experimental manipulations may start from the “micro” scale i.e. study of benthic bacteria in a microcosm to the ecosystem scale i.e. in situ benthic mesocosm experimenters in facilities around the globe. The proposed studies must include:
• A functioning marine sediment compartment
• At least one kind of benthic organism (from single species to whole communities)
• An experimental manipulation of any kind
• A solid experimental design, i.e. adequate replication and existence of control
Keywords: Marine Ecology, Benthic ecology, Ecosystem processes, Marine experiments, Ecosystem health
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.
