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5 November 2026

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Ecology and Biogeography of Marine Benthos—2nd Edition

ECOMARE, CESAM—Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Santiago University Campus, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Diversity2026, 18(11), 684;https://doi.org/10.3390/d18110684 
(registering DOI)
This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology and Biogeography of Marine Benthos—2nd Edition
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Editorial

Marine benthic ecosystems comprise diverse communities living on or within the seafloor, spanning habitats from coastal environments to the deep ocean. They provide essential ecosystem functions and services, including nutrient recycling, carbon processing, habitat formation, biodiversity maintenance, and food-web support [1,2], while contributing to blue-economy activities such as fisheries and tourism [1,3]. Despite their ecological and socioeconomic importance, these ecosystems remain incompletely understood. Their vast spatial extent, environmental heterogeneity, and biological and taxonomic complexity, combined with uneven sampling effort, leave substantial gaps in our knowledge of benthic diversity and ecosystem functioning [4,5,6].
Several studies and research agendas have identified priorities for advancing marine science, including its benthic component. These can be synthesized into four complementary research directions:
  • Improving the observation of benthic ecosystems through field surveys, long-term monitoring, and emerging technologies, particularly in understudied regions [7,8].
  • Understanding ecosystem functioning and resilience by investigating how biodiversity and functional traits influence ecological processes and responses to disturbance [9,10].
  • Predicting and managing ecological change by assessing ecosystem responses to climate change and cumulative anthropogenic pressures [10,11].
  • Fostering inclusive partnerships, interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge exchange, and stronger local research capacity [12,13].
Together, these priorities provide a framework for addressing persistent knowledge gaps and advancing our understanding of benthic ecosystems across diverse habitats and geographic regions. They also provide the rationale for the second edition of the Special Issue “Ecology and Biogeography of Marine Benthos”.
Several contributions to this Special Issue investigate how environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures shape benthic communities across contrasting geographic settings. In the Humboldt Current System off Chile, Krug and Zettler [14] demonstrate how oxygen availability structures macrozoobenthic communities, with hypoxic conditions within oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) favouring a few dominant polychaete species whereas better-oxygenated areas support greater diversity. Cruz et al. [15] show that lobster stock variability in Brazil and Cuba reflects the influence of local and large-scale environmental drivers, including sea-surface temperature, primary production, wind and current patterns, rainfall, and river discharge, highlighting the links between environmental variability, larval recruitment, and fishery productivity. Across Brazilian Marine Protected Areas, Karez et al. [16] document pronounced latitudinal turnover in macroalgal assemblages, underscoring the importance of geographic patterns in biodiversity conservation. Addressing long-term change, Dauvin [17] reviews four decades of shifts in benthic communities in the English Channel under climate and anthropogenic pressures, suggesting that rising seawater temperatures and the introduction of non-native species are the main current drivers of these changes. Finally, Pavlova et al. [18] characterize the spatial distribution of benthic phytopigments in the Eurasian Arctic, establishing a baseline for investigating changes in benthic–pelagic coupling and highlighting the roles of water mass dynamics and sea ice retreat in regulating organic matter export to the seafloor. Collectively, these studies demonstrate how observations across different spatial and temporal scales can reveal environmental drivers of benthic change and establish baselines for future monitoring.
A distinct set of contributions addresses taxonomic knowledge gaps and complementary approaches to assessing benthic biodiversity. Two studies by Lobban et al. [19,20] use detailed ultrastructural analyses to resolve taxonomic uncertainties within the diatom genus Mastogloia. Lobban et al. [20] demonstrate that M. hustedtii is synonymous with M. grunovii and provide the first ultrastructural description of M. meisteri, contributing to a better understanding of its geographic distribution. In a complementary study, Lobban et al. [19] refine the description of M. decussata, further characterize the ultrastructure of M. singaporensis, and describe the new species M. paddocketkempii. These findings highlight the value of detailed morphological characterization for documenting microbial diversity. Taking an alternative approach, Pérez-Pech et al. [21] investigate functional diversity as an alternative metric for assessing marine tardigrade communities, in which taxonomic limitations constrain ecological research. Using four morphological traits reflecting adaptations to the benthic environment, the authors identify significant relationships between functional diversity and species richness, supporting its potential as a complementary indicator of community diversity. These studies illustrate how improved taxonomic resolution and trait-based approaches can strengthen biodiversity assessments, particularly when species-level identification presents challenges.
Taken together, the contributions of this Special Issue address several of the research priorities outlined above. The studies by Krug and Zettler [14], Cruz et al. [15], Karez et al. [16], Dauvin [17], and Pavlova et al. [18] improve our understanding of environmental drivers, geographic patterns, and ecological change, while the contributions by Lobban et al. [19,20] and Pérez-Pech et al. [21] strengthen the taxonomic and methodological foundations of benthic biodiversity assessments. The geographic and ecological scope of the Special Issue, spanning Chile, Brazil, the English Channel, the Eurasian Arctic, and tropical island environments, also broadens the representation of regions and habitats in benthic research, including settings that remain comparatively understudied [4,5].
Building on the first edition of this Special Issue [22], this second edition advances marine benthic ecology by bringing together new evidence from diverse habitats and regions and geographic regions. Nevertheless, substantial knowledge gaps persist, particularly in long-term monitoring and the prediction of ecosystem responses to climate change and cumulative anthropogenic pressures. Future progress will require integrating robust field observations with emerging technologies and predictive approaches, alongside equitable international collaborations that strengthen research capacity in understudied regions. Continued research will be essential to addressing these challenges and uncovering new questions about the diversity, functioning, and dynamics of marine benthic ecosystems.

Acknowledgments

As Guest Editor of the Special Issue “Ecology and Biogeography of Marine Benthos—2nd Edition”, I would like to express my gratitude to the authors whose valuable works have been published in this issue and have contributed to its success. My sincere appreciation also goes to all academic co-editors and reviewers, whose voluntary contributions were essential to the completion of this Special Issue.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

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