NIMBioS Working Group: Ocean Viral Dynamics
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| (Back row, L to R): Steven Wilhelm, Curtis Suttle, Frede Thingstad, Alison Buchan, Eric Wommack, Charlie Stock, Joshua Weitz, Willie Wilson, Mathias Middleboe; (Front, L to R): Derek Sonderegger, Maureen Coleman, Chuan Xue, Lydia Bourouiba, Jay Lennon Not pictured: Mick Follows |
Topic: Modeling Viral Effects on Global Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles
Organizers:
Joshua S. Weitz
(Theoretical Ecologist, School of Biology & Physics,
Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta)
Steven W. Wilhelm
(Environmental Microbiologist, Dept. of Microbiology, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Meeting dates: April 11-13, 2012
Project Summary. Global earth systems and climate models attempt to integrate geophysical processes with the biology of microbes to metazoans to predict the dynamics of carbon and biogeochemical cycles and of biodiversity. However, the smallest biotic agents on the planet - viruses - are rarely, if ever, included in such models, despite empirical evidence that viruses may have dramatic consequences on model predictions. Viruses infect and kill bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes at the base of the ocean's food web. Viral-induced mortality of microbes releases carbon and other nutrients back into the environment and, as a consequence, redirects these materials away from higher trophic levels (e.g. plankton and fish). Theoretical work on aquatic viruses is in its infancy and has not yet resolved the quantitative effects of viruses on carbon and other biogeochemical cycles.
The goal of this working group is to identify and devise analytical approaches to quantifying viral effects on the biogeochemical dynamics of carbon and other key nutrients in the oceans. The group plans to: (i) assemble and synthesize available empirical information on how viruses affect carbon and nutrient flow in microbial communities; (ii) design and analyze dynamic models of viral effects on microbes in a modular format suitable for inclusion in global-scale earth systems models. The working group includes viral ecologists specializing in aquatic ecosystems, microbiologists focusing on carbon and nutrient cycles and theorists with expertise in viral ecology and large-scale ecosystem models who will work together toward these shared goals.
Meeting Summaries for NIMBioS Working Group:
Ocean Viral Dynamics
| Meeting 1: Apr 11-13, 2012 | Agenda (PDF) | Participants |
Meeting 1 summary. The working group discussed broad challenges in understanding the ecological role of viruses in the oceans. One such challenge is to quantify the effect that viruses have on carbon and nutrient cycles. The group identified a set of research questions that require a combined empirical-modeling approach in order to understand how viral interactions at a cellular scale affect ecosystem level function. These questions include the statistical analysis of viral effects data as well as the integration of viral models across spatiotemporal scales. Two collaborative projects were initiated with the goal of having preliminary results by the next meeting, October 22-24, 2012.
NIMBioS Working Groups are chosen to focus on major scientific questions at the interface between biology and mathematics. NIMBioS is particularly interested in questions that integrate diverse fields, require synthesis at multiple scales, and/or make use of or require development of new mathematical/computational approaches. NIMBioS Working Groups are relatively small (10-12 participants), focus on a well-defined topic, and have well-defined goals and metrics of success. Working Groups will typically meet 2-4 times over a two-year period, with each meeting lasting 3-5 days; however, the number of participants, number of meetings, and duration of each meeting is flexible, depending on the needs and goals of the Group.
