Viruses are important drivers in the cycling of carbon and nutrients in aquatic ecosystems. Since viruses are obligate parasites, their production completely depends on growth and metabolism of hosts and therefore can be affected by climate change. Here, we investigated if warming (+4°C) can change the outcome of viral infections in a natural freshwater virus community over a 5‐month period in a mesocosm experiment. We monitored dynamics of viruses and potential hosts. Results show that warming significantly advanced the early summer peak of the virus community by 24 d, but neither affected viral peak abundances nor time‐integrated number of viruses present. Our results demonstrate that warming advances the timing of viruses in a natural community. Although warming may not necessarily result in a stronger viral control of bacterial and phytoplankton communities, our results suggest it can alter host population dynamics through advanced timing of infections, and thus timing of carbon and nutrient recycling.

中文翻译：

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变暖促进温带淡水浮游生物群落中病毒种群动态

病毒是水生生态系统中碳和养分循环的重要驱动力。由于病毒是专性寄生虫，因此其产生完全取决于宿主的生长和代谢，因此可能会受到气候变化的影响。在这里，我们进行了介观实验，研究了升温（+ 4°C）是否可以在5个月内改变天然淡水病毒群落中病毒感染的结果。我们监控了病毒和潜在宿主的动态。结果表明，升温明显提前了病毒群落的夏季高峰24天，但既不影响病毒峰丰度，也不影响存在时间的病毒数量。我们的结果表明，变暖会加快自然社区中病毒的传播时间。