Microbial Bioactives
Microbial Bioactives | Online ISSN 2209-2161
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Volume 6 Number 1 2023
REVIEWS (Open Access)
Blue Carbon, Microbial Loops, and Trophic Reconfiguration: Emerging Perspectives on Aquatic Ecosystem Resilience Under Environmental Stress
Ibrahim D. Al Deeb 1, Muhamad Al-limoun 2*
Microbial Bioactives 6 (1) 1-17 https://doi.org/10.25163/microbbioacts.6110676
Submitted: 20 July 2023 Revised: 14 September 2023 Accepted: 22 September 2023 Published: 24 September 2023
Abstract
Aquatic ecosystems are often portrayed as relatively stable systems capable of buffering environmental change through complex trophic interactions. Yet the evidence synthesized in this review suggests that their apparent stability may conceal substantial ecological restructuring occurring beneath the surface. Drawing from studies on microbial loops, zooplankton-associated microbiomes, invasive species, harmful algal blooms, Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA), and climate-driven ecosystem disturbance, this review examines how aquatic trophic networks reorganize under increasing anthropogenic pressure. Particular attention was given to benthic food webs, where trophic stability frequently persisted despite pronounced shifts in species composition. Stable isotope evidence from Arctic fjord ecosystems indicated that apex consumers maintained relatively consistent trophic positions even during invasive snow crab expansion, implying the presence of trophic redundancy and prey substitution mechanisms. At the same time, microbial interactions emerged as critical regulators of nutrient recycling, carbon transfer, and ecosystem resilience, especially within planktonic systems. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms, pharmaceutical pollutants, and warming-induced stratification collectively disrupted trophic efficiency, altered microbial composition, and weakened ecological connectivity across aquatic environments. Molecular approaches such as DNA metabarcoding and environmental DNA sequencing further revealed previously hidden biodiversity and microbial complexity that traditional ecological methods often overlook. Overall, the reviewed evidence suggests that aquatic ecosystems are neither fully stable nor entirely fragile. Rather, they appear dynamically adaptive, capable of temporary functional compensation while simultaneously becoming increasingly vulnerable to cumulative environmental stress and long-term ecological simplification.
Keywords: Aquatic trophic ecology; microbial loop; zooplankton microbiome; harmful algal blooms; ecosystem resilience; Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture; climate-driven ecological change
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