Mechanistic Responses of Marine Organisms to Multiple Climate-Driven Stressors: Physiological, Metabolic, and Molecular Perspectives

Marine ecotoxicology explores how marine organisms respond to environmental challenges, focusing increasingly on the impact of multiple climate-driven stressors such as ocean warming, acidification, hypoxia, salinity changes, and emerging pollutants. The complexity of this issue lies in the simultaneous and interactive effects of these stressors, which often result in unpredictable and non-additive biological outcomes compared to single-stressor scenarios. Current evidence demonstrates that marine life is not only confronted by the direct influences of these acute and chronic stressors, but also by the intricate interplay among them, influencing organismal energy allocation, immune function, and survival strategies. Recent research, leveraging advances in high-throughput molecular techniques and integrative ecophysiological assays, has substantially expanded our understanding of physiological plasticity and the underlying metabolic and molecular mechanisms at play. However, significant gaps remain concerning how intersecting environmental variables influence the physiological thresholds, energetic trade-offs, and adaptive capacity of diverse marine taxa. Ongoing debates center on the predictability of multi-stressor effects and the extent to which molecular and metabolic responses can forecast organismal health and ecological resilience under accelerating climate change conditions.This Research Topic aims to advance the mechanistic understanding of how co-occurring climate-related stressors influence the physiological performance, metabolic regulation, and resilience of marine organisms. By integrating experimental, molecular, and biochemical methodologies, this topic seeks to identify the key biological pathways and regulatory systems that underpin organismal responses to dynamic environmental change. Specific objectives include elucidating interactions among stressors, disentangling the contributions of different physiological and molecular mechanisms, and improving the capacity to predict vulnerability or adaptability within marine communities as global change progresses.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses original research, reviews, and perspectives addressing the mechanistic and physiological consequences of multiple, climate-driven environmental stressors in marine organisms. Studies may focus on the effects of single or combined exposures to factors such as warming, acidification, hypoxia, salinity variation, and anthropogenic pollutants. We particularly seek contributions that employ integrative or interdisciplinary approaches, combining physiological, biochemical, and ‘multi-omics’ analyses. Key themes include (but are not limited to):• Ecophysiological responses of marine species to environmental stressors• Energy metabolism and metabolic reallocation under stress• Multi-stressor interactions affecting growth, reproduction, or survival• Molecular and cellular mechanisms revealed through transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, or microbiome analyses• Stress physiology across marine invertebrates, fish, and other taxa• Experimental and field studies linking environmental variability to organismal performance• Predictive models integrating physiological responses with ecological and toxicological outcomes Topic editors: Fahim Ullah Khan, Hafiz M. Sohail, AHSAN JAVED Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79470/mechanistic-responses-of-marine-organisms-to-multiple-climate-driven-stressors-physiological-metabolic-and-molecular-perspectives