Impact of Drought and Salinity on Microbial Dynamics in Soil and Water Ecosystems from Central to Southern Iraq: Implications for the Safety and Security of Agricultural Raw Materials in the Food Industry

Drought and salinity represent critical environmental stressors that profoundly shape ecosystem structure and function in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. In central and southern Iraq, prolonged water scarcity, declining river flows, rising temperatures, and increasing soil and water salinization have drastically transformed both terrestrial and aquatic environments. This review synthesizes available—though limited—peer-reviewed information on the dynamics of microbial communities in soil and aquatic systems under drought and salinity stress, with a specific focus on central and southern Iraq. Rather than making unsupported claims about direct applications to food safety, this paper identifies conceptual links between microbially mediated processes (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling) and potential indirect implications for soil fertility, water quality, and agricultural raw material quality. The review explicitly acknowledges the absence of direct pathogen transfer or food safety endpoint data from Iraqi ecosystems and proposes a hypothesis-generating framework rather than definitive conclusions. By cautiously linking environmental microbiology to food safety considerations, this review aims to support future hypothesis-driven research under current climate change conditions in Iraq.

کلیدواژه ها:

Soil microbiome ، Aquatic microbiome ، Climate Change ، Ecosystem resilience ، Conceptual links to food safety