Do viruses play an important role in ecology?

Viruses are much more than parasites. So if I may rephrase your question, it seems like you are asking whether viruses play a role in shaping the members of an ecological community, outside of killing off susceptible hosts. read more

So if I may rephrase your question, it seems like you are asking whether viruses play a role in shaping the members of an ecological community, outside of killing off susceptible hosts. First, it is important to understand that not all viral infections have to end with the killing of a cell (a process called lysis). read more

Through these studies it is now known that the number of viral particles and number of different viral species in almost every environment on Earth is immense. It is largely believed that viruses by species are the most numerous of any biological entity on earth. This is typified by the role of viruses in marine ecology. read more

Over two decades of research have indicated that viruses play crucial roles in aquatic food webs as active constituents of the microbial loop and in the population ecology of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms. read more