Quantitative Viral Ecology : Dynamics of Viruses and Their Microbial Hosts

When we think about viruses we tend to consider ones that afflict humans--such as those that cause influenza, HIV, and Ebola.Yet, vastly more viruses infect single-celled microbes.Diverse and abundant, microbes and the viruses that infect them are found in oceans, lakes, plants, soil, and animal-associated microbiomes.Taking a vital look at the "microscopic" mode of disease dynamics, Quantitative Viral Ecology establishes a theoretical foundation from which to model and predict the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that result from the interaction between viruses and their microbial hosts.Joshua Weitz addresses three major questions: What are viruses of microbes and what do they do to their hosts?How do interactions of a single virus-host pair affect the number and traits of hosts and virus populations?How do virus-host dynamics emerge in natural environments when interactions take place between many viruses and many hosts?Emphasizing how theory and models can provide answers, Weitz offers a cohesive framework for tackling new challenges in the study of viruses and microbes and how they are connected to ecological processes--from the laboratory to the Earth system. Quantitative Viral Ecology is an innovative exploration of the influence of viruses in our complex natural world.