Editorial: The effects of environmental change on anchialine ecosystems
Luis M. Mejía‐Ortíz, Efraín M. Chávez-Solís, Dávid Brankovits
Abstract
The effects of environmental change on anchialine ecosystems Anchialine ecosystems comprise interconnected groundwater habitats at the land-sea aquatic continuum within karstic and volcanic geological settings. Here, crevicular and cavernous environments are flooded by the subterranean estuary, the region of coastal aquifers where seawater and terrestrial-borne freshwaters mix (Moore, 1999), creating globally dispersed habitats for characteristic aquatic fauna with subterranean adaptations These cave-adapted organisms are primarily invertebrates, often endemic, with metabolic, physiologic, and morphologic adaptations that allow them to thrive in dark and energy-limited environments. Historically, these habitats have been considered particularly stable environments (e.g., However, there is growing evidence that the functioning of anchialine ecosystems is greatly influenced by external meteorological, hydrological, and oceanic conditions that closely link them with adjacent terrestrial and marine habitats (e.g., For all these reasons, anchialine ecosystems may be more susceptible to short-and long-term effects of environmental change than previously thought.