0000000000222124
AUTHOR
Mauro Fabiano
Relationships between Suspended and Sediment Organic Matter in a Semi-Enclosed Marine System: The Stagnone Di Marsala Sound (Western Sicily)
To gather information on the interactions between the sediment and suspended organic matter pools in the Stagnone di Marsala, water and sediment samples were collected, on a monthly basis, at 11 stations. Water temperature and salinity showed a clear seasonality whilst particulate and sediment organic matter did not show any clear seasonal pattern. Relative abundances of suspended and sediment organic matter, on the other hand, appeared to be site-dependent and controlled mainly by the dynamic balance between resuspension and sedimentation. High quantities of both suspended and sediment total organic matter were present, while very low algal biomasses (in terms of chlorophyll-a concentratio…
Particulate Organic Matter Composition in A Semi-Enclosed Marine System
Spatial and temporal changes in the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter in a semi-enclosed marine system (Stagnone di Marsala, Mediterranean Sea) were studied, on a monthly basis, from January to December 1994, in order to assess nutritional value of suspended particles for benthic suspension feeders. According to previous findings, the study site displayed a strong oligotrophy. Chlorophyll-a accounted for a very low fraction of the total suspended matter pool (0.1%), whereas at least 75% of POC was of detrital/heterotrophic origin. POC: PON ratio values indicate that bacterioplankton biomass accounted for a significant fraction of the total POC pool, displaying values com…
Enzymatically hydrolyzable protein and carbohydrate sedimentary pools as indicators of the trophic state of detritus sink system: a case study in a Mediterranean Coastal lagoon
In order to classify the trophic state of 'detritus sink' systems, instead of the conventional indicators based on inorganic nutrient availability and algal biomass and productivity in the water column, we utilized new biochemical descriptors based on the amount of sedimentary organic carbon and nitrogen potentially available to heterotrophic nutrition. We investigated spatial and temporal changes in microphytobenthic biomass, organic matter biochemical composition and enzymatically hydrolyzable protein and carbohydrate pools along a N-S transect in the Marsala lagoon (Mediterranean Sea, Italy) at three stations characterized by different hydrodynamic conditions and organic matter content i…
Aquaculture impact on benthic microbes and organic matter cycling in coastal Mediterranean sediments: a synthesis
Microbial assemblages and organic matter composition as well as their response to the disturbance induced by mussel and fish-farm biodeposition were compared in several areas of the Mediterranean: La Spezia (Ligurian Sea), Gaeta (Tyrrhenian Sea), Cattolica (Adriatic Sea) and Cyprus (Levantine Sea), on both unvegetated and Posidonia bed sediments. In all systems investigated, organic matter (as biopolymeric carbon) accumulated in aquaculture impacted sediments. Among the main biochemical classes, lipids appeared to be a good tracer of aquaculture impact, especially in fish-farm sediments. Exoenzymatic activities displayed higher values in sediment beneath the cages, indicating faster organic…
Fish-farming effects on benthic community structure in coastal sediments: analysis of meiofaunal recovery
To study the impact of organic enrichment and high biodeposition caused by intensive fish farming in coastal sediments, meiofaunal samples were collected on a monthly basis between March and October 1997 at two stations of the Gaeta Gulf: One under the Farmocean cage (2000 m3), while the other (the control) was located at about 1 km from an area not impacted by fish farming. The fish farm contained about 120 000 Dicentrarchus labrax (density 18 kg m -3). The most evident changes in the benthic habitat under the cage were a large accumulation of primary organic material (phytopigment concentrations up to 44 μg g-1), changes in sedimentary organic matter composition (increased lipid levels re…
Environmental Constraints on Pathways of Organic Detritus in a Semi-enclosed Marine System (W-Mediterranean)
In order to assess seasonal and spatial changes in water-sediment interaction processes in a semi-enclosed marine system of Western Sicily (Marsala lagoon; W-Mediterranean), the biochemical composition of suspended and sediment organic matter was studied, during a one-year sampling period. The observed dynamic balance of resuspension vs. sedimentation processes and the macroalgal and vascular plant coverage appear major factors in affecting both amounts and biochemical composition of suspended and sedimentary organic matter and allowed us to identify two different sub-systems. The northern area, characterised by frequent wind-induced sediment resuspension events and by a scant vegetation, d…