Ecological dynamics and impacts of viruses in Chinese and global estuaries

Estuaries are important ecosystems providing irreplaceable services for humankind and, in turn, are extensively influenced by human activities and climate changes. Microbial processes, which are largely controlled by viruses, are always responsible for the ecological function and environmental problems in estuaries. However, we know little about the ecology and importance of viruses in estuarine systems. Here, we investigated viral ecological dynamics in estuarine systems on local (four largest estuaries in China in different seasons) and global scales. Viral production varied by almost 20-fold in Chinese estuaries with significant seasonality, being responsible for the removal of 1.41%–21.45% of the bacterioplankton standing stock each day, and contributed directly to the organic carbon pool by releasing an average of 3.57 µg of cellular carbon per liter per day. By compiling data from 21 estuaries across the world, we found for the first time that viral population size peaked at mid-latitude and viral production increased towards the equator in estuarine ecosystems. The results indicated the higher viral impact on microbial mortality and dissolved organic matter cycling in tropical estuaries. Our field investigation and global synthesized analysis provide compelling evidence of spatiotemporal variations in estuarine viral dynamics. The global view of viral impacts on estuarine microbial mortality offers important insight for incorporating viruses into ecological models and understanding the environmental implications of the tropicalization of temperate aquatic ecosystems under a scenario of climate warming.