title: Drivers of interannual variability in virioplankton abundance at the coastal western Antarctic peninsula and the potential effects of climate change.
abstract: An 8-year time-series in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) with an approximately weekly sampling frequency was used to elucidate changes in virioplankton abundance and their drivers in this climatically sensitive region. Virioplankton abundances at the coastal WAP show a pronounced seasonal cycle with interannual variability in the timing and magnitude of the summer maxima. Bacterioplankton abundance is the most influential driving factor of the virioplankton, and exhibit closely coupled dynamics. Sea ice cover and duration predetermine levels of phytoplankton stock and thus, influence virioplankton by dictating the substrates available to the bacterioplankton. However, variations in the composition of the phytoplankton community and particularly the prominence of Diatoms inferred from silicate drawdown, drive interannual differences in the magnitude of the virioplankton bloom; likely again mediated through changes in the bacterioplankton. Their findings suggest that future warming within the WAP will cause changes in sea ice that will influence viruses and their microbial hosts through changes in the timing, magnitude and composition of the phytoplankton bloom. Thus, the flow of matter and energy through the viral shunt may be decreased with consequences for the Antarctic food web and element cycling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brandsma
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pond
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Hugh J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Venables
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Meredith
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.affiliation: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stammerjohn
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory, Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.|Aquatic Microbiology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, Amsterdam, 1090 GE, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Corina P D
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Brussaard
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D020387:Food Chain; D046448:Ice Cover / Q000821:virology; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012621:Seasons; D014780:Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*