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Abstract
Deposition of dust aerosols from the Saharan Desert is a major contributor to micro and macronutrients across marine habitats. In marine systems, dust can affect biogeochemistry of surface waters, driving autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial processes. Our understanding of biological responses to dust comes from studies on the soluble fraction of material leached from dust particles; however, work on in situ responses to dust events suggest that leached materials may drive responses differently from whole dust. Here we show that dust delivery method has a significant effect on microbial community composition, especially among early responders (24 h or less). We found that with the addition of whole dust aerosols, natural seawater bacterial community composition shifted significantly after 16 h of incubation. Furthermore, the primary taxa driving the change in composition were in the family Vibrionaceae, which increased significantly in whole dust treatments compared to both leachate and controls (p = 0.02).