A team led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has described a sustained and unprecedented decrease in the abundance of marine viruses in the northwestern Mediterranean over the last two decades.
A team led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has described a sustained and unprecedented decrease in the abundance of marine viruses in the northwestern Mediterranean over the last two decades. The finding, published in the journal ISME Communications, is based on the longest-known time series data on marine viruses to date, from the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory (BBMO) in Girona.
The results show that since 2011, the abundance of viruses in seawater has continuously decreased, coinciding with a progressive increase in water temperature and transparency, along with a significant reduction in nutrients and phytoplankton biomass. These changes reflect an oligotrophication process – meaning an impoverishment in nutrients – which transforms the marine ecosystem into a more pristine and less altered environment.
“What we observe is a clear signal that global change, and especially climate change, is reconfiguring even the most minute microbial communities—those invisible to the human eye but essential for the functioning of the oceans,” explains Xabier López-Alforja, lead author of the study. “Marine viruses fulfill critical roles in ecosystems: they regulate microbial populations, recycle nutrients, and can favor the transport of carbon to the ocean floor, a key process in global climate regulation.”
Read More: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Image: The results show that since 2011 the abundance of viruses in seawater has continuously decreased (Credit: ICM-CSIC)
