Fine-Scale Dynamics of Marine Protist Diversity Across Biogeographic Regions in the Southern Pacific Ocean Fronts Revealed by a High-Resolution transect

We performed a comprehensive survey of marine microbial eukaryote communities in the remote southern Pacific Ocean. We find that the protist communities are strongly defined by major oceanographic features, such as the PF and STF, although we also find evidence that distinct communities exploit and occupy these frontal environments. The strong influence of these frontal systems indicates that future changes in these oceanographic features due to environmental change are likely to have a major impact on the distribution and composition of marine microbial communities.