Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology of Soil Contaminants: From Molecular Interactions to Ecosystem Functioning

Soil contamination poses a global threat to soil functioning and the ecosystem services it supports. Anthropogenic activities continuously release both conventional and emerging contaminants into the environment, with soils acting as major reservoirs. These contaminants impair soil functionality by disrupting biogeochemical cycling through both direct toxicity and indirect changes to soil physical and chemical properties. Despite growing attention, major scientific challenges remain, including limited mechanistic understanding, a lack of long-term and environmentally realistic studies, taxonomic bias toward a few model organisms, insufficient knowledge of microbiome interactions and biogeochemical responses, analytical constraints, and spatiotemporal gaps.This Research Topic addresses challenges regarding effects of contaminants on soil functioning by examining how such contaminants interact with physical, chemical, and biological processes to shape soil biogeochemical dynamics and overall functionality. It explores these interactions across multiple levels of organization, from molecular mechanisms to ecosystem functioning and from micro- to macro-scale processes. A central goal is to help close knowledge gaps in soil contamination research, particularly in biogeochemistry and ecotoxicology, by identifying general patterns in the effects of conventional and emerging contaminants, including dissolved pollutants and physical particles such as microplastics, on soil functioning through both direct and indirect pathways.This Research Topic welcomes contributions that advance mechanistic and environmentally realistic understanding of how conventional and emerging contaminants affect soil functioning through biogeochemical, physical, and biological pathways. We encourage submissions addressing themes such as contaminant effects on enzyme activities, nutrient cycling, microbial communities and microbiome interactions, soil faunal responses, multi-stressor interactions, spatial and temporal variability, analytical and methodological advances, and cross-scale links from molecular processes to ecosystem functioning. Studies on dissolved pollutants, metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials, and particulate contaminants including microplastics are all within scope. We are interested in Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Perspectives, and Brief Research Reports that provide novel data, synthesis, or tools relevant to soil biogeochemistry, ecotoxicology, and ecosystem functioning. Topic editors: Humberto Aponte, JONATHAN MARCELO SUAZO HERNANDEZ, Zacharias Steinmetz, Pedro Mondaca Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82691/biogeochemistry-and-ecotoxicology-of-soil-contaminants-from-molecular-interactions-to-ecosystem-functioning