Aquatic viral ecology

Abstract

Marine and freshwater viruses, from polar regions to tropical systems, are a huge reservoir of genetic diversity and are key players in regulating host population dynamics and subsequently carbon cycling in the microbial food web. This session will explore the ecology of aquatic viruses, ranging from their diversity to their role as agents of microbial mortality, and drivers of biogeochemical fluxes in the various different aquatic systems. The session is inclusive to the emergent approaches and methodologies that promote advances in the area of research, including lab-based, field and theoretical studies. We invite research related (but not restricted) to viral distributions and activities, virus-host and virus-virus interactions, and impact of microbial and environmental factors on virus production, diversity and decay