Knowledge and implications of global change in the oceans for biology, ecology, and ecosystem services - Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century - page 146

Moreover, because some key metabolic processes of the microbial communities are highly
sensitive (and inhibited) by even small decreases in the pH of the medium, ocean acidifica-
tion may have a profound influence on the overall functioning of the microbial communit-
ies and on virus-host interactions (Danovaro et al., 2011 ) . A recent review of the poten-
tial effect of global warming on prokaryotes carried out in the Arctic Ocean revealed that
light for phytoplankton and inorganic/organic nutrients for phytoplankton and heterotroph-
ic bacteria are more crucial than are changes in temperature (Kirchman et al., 2009 ). The
directconsequencesinpolarsystems,wheretheeffectsofclimate changesaremoresevere,
are that microbial processes are particularly sensitive to small changes and have potentially
large impacts on carbon flows and other ecosystem functions .