An 8-year time-series in the Western Antarctic Peninsula(WAP) with an approximately weekly samplingfrequency was used to elucidate changes in virioplanktonabundance and their drivers in thisclimatically sensitive region. Virioplankton abundancesat the coastal WAP show a pronounced seasonalcycle with interannual variability in the timing andmagnitude of the summer maxima. Bacterioplanktonabundance is the most influential driving factor of thevirioplankton, and exhibit closely coupled dynamics.Sea ice cover and duration predetermine levels ofphytoplankton stock and thus, influence virioplanktonby dictating the substrates available to the bacterioplankton. However, variations in the compositionof the phytoplankton community andparticularly the prominence of Diatoms inferred fromsilicate drawdown, drive interannual differences inthe magnitude of the virioplankton bloom; likelyagain mediated through changes in the bacterioplankton.Their findings suggest that future warmingwithin the WAP will cause changes in sea ice that willinfluence viruses and their microbial hosts throughchanges in the timing, magnitude and composition ofthe phytoplankton bloom. Thus, the flow of matterand energy through the viral shunt may be decreasedwith consequences for the Antarctic food web andelement cycling.
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