Mediterranean Soil Microbial Responses to Environmental Stresses

The Mediterranean region, known for its unique climatic conditions with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, creates distinctive soil environments that nurture complex microbial communities. These ecosystems face increasing threats from environmental stresses such as prolonged droughts, salinisation, and heat waves, accelerated by climate change. There is a critical need to understand how these microbial communities respond to such stresses, as they play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem services and soil resiliency. Recent studies have begun to shed light on the adaptive mechanisms and resilience of these microbial populations, yet there remains much to explore about their dynamics under changing environmental conditions and their potential roles in mitigating adverse effects.

This Research Topic aims to delve into the responses of soil microbial communities in Mediterranean environments to a variety of environmental stresses. By uncovering how these microbes adapt to or counteract stress effects, such as drought and heat, the goal is to develop effective strategies that enhance soil health and resilience. Understanding these adaptive mechanisms is essential for informing approaches that sustain and enhance the functionality of soil systems under stress.

To effectively explore these dynamics, this Research Topic will focus primarily on Mediterranean soil environments. We welcome articles that provide comprehensive insights into microbial interactions and strategies under stress, specifically:

• Shifts in microbial community diversity, composition, and function due to drought, salinity, and heat stresses.

• Resilience and recovery patterns of microbial communities after stress exposure.

• Mechanisms employed by microbes to tolerate or resist environmental stresses.

• Interactions between soil microbes, plant roots, and the rhizosphere that influence plant stress responses.

• Impact of microbial changes on soil processes such as nutrient cycling, organic matter breakdown, and carbon storage.

• Development and evaluation of management practices or biotechnological advances that enhance soil resilience through microbial action.

We invite contributions in the form of Original Research, Review, and Mini Review articles on these themes.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Mediterranean, microbial communities, climate change, soil salinity, soil resiliency, recovery patterns

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.