Plant Stress Physiology and Ecophysiological Responses to Environmental Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s changing world, plant sciences play a vital role, especially in the context of global food security. Agriculture forms the foundation of human society by supplying the food essential for survival. However, climate change, global warming, and other environmental threats increasingly jeopardize crop yield and quality. Plant stress physiology focuses on how plants detect, respond to, and adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions that impair their growth and development.

Plant stress can be categorized as abiotic or biotic. Abiotic stressors include drought, temperature extremes, salinity, nutrient imbalances, heavy metals, and pollution, while biotic stressors include pathogens, herbivores, and parasitic organisms. These stressors may result from both natural and human-induced environmental changes, significantly affecting plant ecophysiology.

Plants have developed complex strategies to cope with stress, including osmotic adjustment, changes in stomatal behavior, activation of antioxidant systems, and the production of hormones and stress-related proteins. These forms of adaptation help them maintain physiological balance and minimize damage.

Plants’ responses vary depending on plant genotype, developmental stage, and prior stress exposure. Understanding these mechanisms is key to predicting plant performance under variable environmental conditions. In agriculture, applying this knowledge helps improve crop resilience through stress-tolerant breeding, optimized resource use, and integrated management practices—critical steps for maintaining productivity in the face of climate uncertainty.

This Special Issue invites original research articles, reviews, and short communications that explore plant responses to environmental stressors from a physiological and ecophysiological standpoint. While the focus is on crop species, studies involving model or wild plants that contribute to our understanding of stress responses are equally welcome. We particularly encourage multidisciplinary approaches that integrate molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, and systems biology with classical and modern plant physiology.

Dr. Brigitta Tóth
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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