Temporal Trends in Macrobenthos Community Structure and Redundancy in a Shallow Coastal Lagoon (Valli di Comacchio, Northern Adriatic Sea)

The colonization of epilithic diatoms on artificial hard substrates (marble, quartzite and slate) was investigated on a seasonal basis in a subtidal site of the northern Adriatic Sea to determine if substrate-dependent differences in colonization occurs and to define the seasonal variations of microepilithic communities in terms of abundance, biomass and community structure. Artificial substrates (smoothed small discs mounted on a Plexiglas sheet) were placed at a depth of 8 m in April 2003, July 2003, January 2004 and February 2004. The discs were collected after 6–7 weeks for counting and taxonomic identification of the diatoms. The community structure of epilithic diatoms showed a dominance of motile species over the entire study period, followed by erect, adnate and tube-dwelling diatoms. Diatom density showed a marked seasonal variability, ranging from 365±407 (winter 2004) to 557156±82602 cells cm-2 (spring 2004). Biomass ranged from 0.02±0.01 to 17.53±3.20 μg C cm-2. Abundance and biomass values did not present any significant differences for the three substrates examined.

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Changes in the planktonic community structure related to trophic conditions: The case study of the northern Adriatic Sea

Journal of Marine Systems ◽

10.1016/j.jmarsys.2012.02.006 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 96-97 ◽

pp. 95-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Dragica Fuks ◽

Ingrid Ivančić ◽

Mirjana Najdek ◽

Davor Lučić ◽

Jakica Njire ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Adriatic Sea ◽

Northern Adriatic Sea ◽

Trophic Conditions ◽

Northern Adriatic ◽

Planktonic Community

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Spatial and Temporal Trends of Gaseous Elemental Mercury over a Highly Impacted Coastal Environment (Northern Adriatic, Italy)

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11090935 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 935 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicolò Barago ◽

Federico Floreani ◽

Alessandro Acquavita ◽

José María Esbrí ◽

Stefano Covelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adriatic Sea ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Elemental Mercury ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽

Natural Background ◽

Northern Adriatic Sea ◽

Northern Adriatic ◽

Gaseous Elemental Mercury ◽

Global Pollutant ◽

Spatial And Temporal Trends

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant, being highly persistent in the atmosphere, in particular gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), which can easily be emitted and then transported over long distances. In the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea, Italy), contamination by Hg is well characterised but little is known regarding the concentrations, sources and fate of GEM in the atmosphere. In this work, discrete measurements of GEM were recorded from several sites at different times of the year. The database is consistent with temporal night-day variations monitored using a continuous real-time device. The meteorological conditions were collected as ancillary parameters. GEM levels varied from <LOD (2.0 ng m−3) to 48.5 ng m−3 (mean 2.7 ng m−3), with no significant differences found among sites. A clear daily pattern emerged, with maximum values reached just after sunset. Air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction were identified as the main micrometeorological factors influencing both the spatial and temporal variation of GEM. Our results show that average atmospheric GEM values are higher than the natural background of the Northern Hemisphere and will be useful in future selection regarding the most suitable sites to monitor atmospheric Hg depositions and fluxes from soil and water.

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