Impacts of salinization caused by sea level rise on the biological processes of coastal soils - A review

Soil salinization caused by sea level rise threatens coastal agricultural soils and geochemically important wetlands worldwide. The aim of this review is to outline expected changes in soil biological activity discussing the combined effects salt stress flooding on plants productivity microbial communities, which determine consequences fluxes C, N P. Finally, it outlines repercussions greenhouse gases emissions. prediction outcomes made difficult concomitant sometimes contrasting actions seawater intrusion partly acclimated non-acclimated environments. Non-salt suffer from osmotic stress, but also reduced O 2 solubility. Microbial biomass declines with increasing salinity communities shift composition. Large concentrations Cl − inhibit nitrification, stimulates fluxes. Impacts C mineralisation rates variable enhanced larger availability terminal electron acceptors. reduction Fe that SO 4 2− could enhance P mobility. Salinization affects methanogenesis constrained favour reduction. Consequences are largely site specific predict because complex network processes occurring simultaneously different compartments (i.e., soil, microbiome, vegetation). distinction between short long term important. A reliable at a planetary scale will only result more precise inventories monitoring areas displaying similarities implementation these well-defined data sets specifically devised models whose results can be finally weighted basis.