Search results for "phytoplankton"
showing 10 items of 279 documents
Influence of Nutrients and Mixing on the Primary Production and Community Respiration in the Gulf of Riga
1999
Abstract Rates of plankton community production and respiration in relation to wind, solar radiation, biomass and nutrients were measured in the mixed layer during a late spring, a mid-summer and an early autumn situation in the Gulf of Riga. System metabolism was estimated by the in vitro oxygen method and from oxygen mass balance directly in the water. Gross production (GPP) remained fairly stable throughout the investigation periods with a mean of 1.8 g C m−2 day−1 (range: 0.5–3.9 g C m−2 day−1). Community respiration varied from 0.5 to 6.4 g C m−2 day−1 during the two summer studies (the high respiration rates ranging from 3.0 to 10.4 g C m−2 day−1 found during the autumn cruise were pr…
Spatio-temporal behaviour of five picophytoplankton populations in Tyrrhe- nian Sea: Model and data
2014
Recent works presented detailed analyses of spatio-temporal dynamics in marine ecosystems, reproducing real vertical distributions of phytoplankton biomass. These study however do not take into account the changes in environmental variables. On the contrary, seasonal variations can influence considerably the primary production, i.e. phytoplankton biomass, in marine ecosystems, determining significative consequences in the whole food chain, in particular fish species, whose growth is mainly explained by seasonal changes in the chlorophyll concentration, a marker of phytoplankton species. Here we present a one-dimensional reaction-diffusion-taxis model to describe the spatio-temporal dynamics…
Reaction-diffusion-taxis model for spatio-temporal dynamics of five picophytoplankton populations
2014
Recently new models were devised to study spatio-temporal dynamics of phytoplankton populations in view of obtaining more precise predictions of the vertical biomass distributions in marine ecosystems. These studies can be crucial from the point of view of shery. Indeed the abundance of fi sh species is strictly connected with primary production, i.e. phytoplankton biomass, responsible for chlorophyll concentration. In this work a one-dimensional deterministic reaction-di ffusion-taxis model is used to reproduce the spatio-temporal dynamics, along a water column, of five picophytoplankton populations sampled in a real ecosystem. In our analysis, to better reproduce the spatio-temporal behav…
First record of Synedropsis roundii (Bacillariophyta, Fragilariaceae) in the Mediterranean region
2019
Populations of the fragilarioid diatom Synedropsis roundii are described from the phytoplankton of the Albufera of Valencia, a large and shallow eutrophic lagoon in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The specimens collected are described and illustrated with light and scanning electron microscopy. This is the first documented record of this species since its description, and the first illustrated record of the genus in the Mediterranean region. The Albufera lagoon and the type locality of the species (Imboassica Lagoon, SE Brazil) are similar in some ecological features. The ecological and biogeographical implications of this finding are briefly discussed.
Red sky at night cyanobacteria delight: the role of climate in structuring phytoplankton assemblage in a shallow, Mediterranean lake (Biviere di Gela…
2009
The hypothesis that climate changes may strongly interfere with the peculiar hydrological patterns in the Mediterranean basin and alter the structure of the aquatic biota was tested in a shallow Sicilian lake. A phytoplankton survey, carried out monthly in the brackish and shallow Biviere di Gela, in 2005–2007, revealed a transformation in the structure of its phytoplankton assemblage as compared with similar data collected in 1987–1988. An analysis of the trends followed by precipitation and temperature over the last 40 years, showed reduced water inflows, due to increased air temperature and evapotranspiration rather than to a decrease in the amount of precipitation. A consequent reductio…
Steady-state assemblages in a Mediterranean hypertrophic reservoir. The role of Microcystis ecomorphological variability in maintaining an apparent e…
2003
Lake Arancio is a hypertrophic Mediterranean man-made lake, located on the southern coast of Sicily. Its artificial origin and the climate make it a very dynamic environment, strongly characterised by very wide water-level fluctuations. These vertical water movements interfere with the thermal stability of the water body often causing the breaking of the thermocline in mid-summer. In addition, the summer level-decrease influences the nutrient dynamics and modifies the zmix/zeu ratio. All these modifications were observed to support a high environmental variability, which was reflected by the richness of its phytoplankton composition and by its dynamics. Nevertheless, an investigation carrie…
Utilization of muddy detritus as organic matter source by the fan mussel Pinna nobilis.
2014
The knowledge of the feeding habits in marine species is fundamental to better understand their relationship with the environment. Although phytoplankton has been traditionally reported as the main food source consumed by the Mediterranean fan mussel Pinna nobilis, recent studies have revealed that detritus represents an important food source for this species. We analysed the degree of acceptance of muddy detritus and the utilisation of its organic matter (OM) by P. nobilis on a group of 21 individuals (30.3-59.7 cm of total shell height (Ht)). The specimens were collected between July and September 2012 in two areas (43°04´25” N; 5°46´7” E and 43°04´34” N; 5°47´32” E) of the Embiez archipe…
Coastal Evolution in a Mediterranean Microtidal Zone: Mid to Late Holocene Natural Dynamics and Human Management of the Castellò Lagoon, NE Spain
2016
We present a palaeoenvironmental study of the Castelló lagoon (NE Spain), an important archive for understanding long-term interactions between dynamic littoral ecosystems and human management. Combining geochemistry, mineralogy, ostracods, diatoms, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal and archaeo-historical datasets we reconstruct: 1) the transition of the lagoon from a marine to a marginal environment between ~3150 cal BC to the 17th century AD; 2) fluctuations in salinity; and 3) natural and anthropogenic forces contributing to these changes. From the Late Neolithic to the Medieval period the lagoon ecosystem was driven by changing marine influence and the land was mainly exploited …
Morphological analysis of phytoplankton as a tool to assess ecological state of aquatic ecosystems: the case of Lake Arancio, Sicily, Italy
2013
Phytoplankton requires a sufficient supply of light and nutrients to grow. At the same time it is largely entrained in water motion and is subject to grazing from planktonic herbivores. The pelagic life of lake phytoplankton is based on 4 pillars: living in suspension, light harvesting, nutrient uptake, and escape from grazing. Environmental variability and the uneven distribution of resources among and within the different aquatic ecosystems exert a selective pressure on these organisms, which are formed by a single cell or by colonies with either relatively low or high numbers of cells. Phytoplankton displays an amazing morphological variability representing an adaptation to spatial and t…
The role of charophytes in a Mediterranean pond created forrestoration purposes
2015
A small, shallow basin was created and flooded with groundwater in a Reserve Area in Albufera de València Natural Park (AVNP) under the scope of a restoration program intended to mimic typical environments such as freshwater springs, abundant in the past but currently suffering from deterioration (desiccation, pollution, etc.), with the ultimate goal of increasing local biodiversity of submerged macrophytes, particularly charophytes. In this study we have monitored, from April 2009 (a few months after its first flooding) to September 2012, the dynamics of charophyte growth and related physical, chemical and biotic variables to highlight the factors determining charophyte success. Just after…