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JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 6 | PAGES 627-641 | 1994
© Oxford University Press

research-article

Marine viral ecology: incorporation of bacteriophage into the microbial planktonic food web paradigm

Alexander G. Murray1 and Peter M. Eldridge2

Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843, USA

Received on April 20, 1993; accepted on January 22, 1994

In the decade since the microbial loop was defined by Azam et at. (Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 59, 1–17, 1983), the importance of the interaction between microbial organisms and the larger planktonic animals has been a subject of controversy. Until recently, grazing was considered to be the major fate of bacterial production. Now, however, viruses are seen to have an important role in microbial processes. We describe how growth and recycling parameters affect the transfer of bacterial production through a microbial loop model that includes viruses. The loop is very inefficient for all reasonable conditions, but its relative importance as a source of mesozooplankton nutrition is variable. The model demonstrates that in mesotrophic coastal waters, the microbial loop is unlikely to supply more than a minor component of mesozooplankton nutrition, a proposition that is supported by accumulating evidence. For oligotrophic pelagic waters, the model indicates that in the absence of viruses the microbial loop, despite its low efficiency, may provide an important resource for mesozooplankton. Bacterial production, without viral mortality, is also relatively important in the case of direct exploitation by salps. Under these conditions, bacteria account for 10–30% of mesozooplankton nutrition. With high levels of bacteriophage activity, zooplankton production is generally reduced by 5–15%. We thus conclude that bactenophages could significantly affect mesozooplanktonic and, hence, exploitable marine production.

1Present address: CSIRO Division of Fisheries, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia

2Present address: Resource Protection Division, Parks and Wildlife Department, 3000 1H 35 South, Suite 320, Austin, TX 78704, USA


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