Ecological and Evolutionary Drivers of Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3 and SDG 6.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health concern, threatening medical, veterinary, and agricultural systems. Whereas the clinical dimension of AMR is well recognized, there is growing awareness that the environment plays a critical role in the emergence, maintenance, and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Environmental compartments, such as soil, water, air, and wildlife, harbor complex microbial communities and diverse mobile genetic elements (MGEs), creating dynamic arenas where resistance can evolve and spread. These environmental reservoirs can also act as sources of resistance re-entry into human and veterinary settings, completing a feedback loop across the One Health continuum.

This article collection focuses on the ecological and evolutionary processes that underlie the environmental dissemination of AMR. Central to this are mechanisms such as horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which facilitates the movement of ARGs between unrelated microbial taxa and potentially into pathogens, and selection, whereby environmental or anthropogenic pressures, including antibiotics, biocides, heavy metals, and non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, favor resistant phenotypes. Another key process is invasion, which includes both the introduction of resistant strains (e.g., through wastewater or manure) and the acquisition of novel ARGs into previously susceptible microbial communities.

Importantly, these eco-evolutionary dynamics are shaped by a range of biotic (e.g., microbial diversity, trophic interactions, bacteriophage activity, population structure) and abiotic (e.g., temperature, nutrient availability, pollutants) factors. Anthropogenic influences, such as wastewater discharge, agricultural runoff, urbanization, and climate change, further modulate these processes, often accelerating resistance spread or altering its trajectory in yet unpredictable ways.

Despite increasing recognition of the environmental dimension of AMR, significant knowledge gaps remain. For instance, we lack a clear understanding of how environmental selection pressures interact with HGT to structure resistomes over time; how the ecological context influences the persistence, loss, or reassembly of ARGs and MGEs; and how to effectively monitor and model these processes to inform risk assessment and policy. Moreover, we need a better understanding of how ecological and evolutionary principles (e.g., competitive exclusion, ecological filtering, or phage-mediated control) can be harnessed to reduce ARG prevalence, disrupt HGT pathways, or destabilize resistance-associated mobile genetic elements in environmental reservoirs.

Bridging these gaps requires interdisciplinary research spanning microbiology, ecology, evolutionary biology, environmental engineering, and computational modeling.

Consequently, this collection invites original research articles, perspectives, and reviews that investigate the mechanistic, ecological, and evolutionary bases of AMR spread in environmental systems. This covers laboratory, environmental and computational studies on model as well as complex community systems and combinations thereof.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), highlighting the critical intersection between environmental health and the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance. Through this collection, we aim to advance a more integrated understanding of AMR as an ecological and evolutionary phenomenon, ultimately contributing to better-informed surveillance, mitigation, and policy strategies across the One Health continuum.