Eutrophication and Nutrient Fluxes in Mediterranean Coastal Lagoons

Abstract

In this article, we provide a general overview of eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems, with a focus on the Mediterranean Sea and two Sardinian lagoons (western Mediterranean Sea, Italy), as case studies. In the Cabras Lagoon, we assessed the nutrient budget and fluxes using the biogeochemical Land–Ocean Interaction Coastal Zone model. High nutrient and chlorophyll‐ a concentrations indicated eutrophic conditions, summer being the most critical season as related to the decrease in riverine water supply, the increase in water evaporation and a concurrent isolation of the lagoon from the adjacent sea. In the Calich Lagoon, the eutrophic conditions, assessed during 2008–2015, seemed to be attenuated by a good water exchange with the sea, yet potential harmful phytoplankton species were found. Overall, the present study shows how Mediterranean coastal lagoons are strongly influenced by both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Eutrophication is one of the main forms of environmental degradation of aquatic ecosystems, and in coastal lagoons, this is the consequence of multiple pressures, which have led to significant losses of major ecosystem goods and services, such as aquaculture, fishery, and tourism. Good practices and landscape management are urgently needed to prevent further deterioration of these sensible ecosystems.

Effects of elevated temperature and eutrophication on tropical lagoon sponges

“…According to Nixon (1982Nixon ( , 1995, the combination of low flushing rates and terrestrial nutrient inputs make coastal lagoons high primary production zones, which can lead to phytoplankton blooms, oxygen depletion and eutrophication. The depletion of oxygen due to the decomposition of lagooninhabiting vegetation has previously been reported in Venice, Italy (Tagliapietra et al, 2011) and eutrophication-impacted lagoons have also been reported in the USA (Glibert et al, 2014) and along the Mediterranean coast (Padedda et al, 2019). While some lagoons can potentially selfregulate the effects of eutrophication through top-down control over phytoplankton (Pérez-Ruzafa et al, 2002, the impacts of excess nutrients on lagoon-inhabiting species is not well understood, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) where urban development and intensive agriculture are mostly concentrated along the coast.…”

Spatiotemporal Organic Carbon Distribution in the Capo Peloro Lagoon (Sicily, Italy) in Relation to Environmentally Sustainable Approaches

“…Transitional water environments represent the natural, physical, and functional transition between terrestrial ecosystems and the sea [1][2][3]. These peculiar areas are often very productive and unique ecosystems around which many human commercial activities revolve [2,4,5]. Ecosystem services integrate ecology and economics issues to better understand the effects of human policies and impacts on both ecosystem function and human wellbeing [6][7][8].…”

“…NPOC (not purgeable organic carbon) refers to the nonvolatile fraction of organic carbon [24]. All these carbon fractions play a vital role as a vector of matter and energy in the lagoon ecosystems, both for the organic compart and the sedimentological one [2,4,25,26].…”

“…The research carried out has focused on purely geomorphological aspects [29], or chemical, physical, and biological aspects [30][31][32], the distribution of organic compounds, metals, electrolytes, and PCBs in water and organisms [28,33], the presence of bivalve molluscs and bioenergetic properties [34,35], the microbial structures present [36], and some other publications on similar aspects, but there are no specific studies regarding organic carbon distribution and its environmental implications in the examined area. Considering the environmental importance of natural organisms present in this lagoon, the commercial importance of the biological resources farmed in this area [4,9,37], and the possible correlation with other similar transitional areas worldwide distributed [38][39][40], deepening these aspects to enrich the existing database for these environments is essential. Moreover, enhancing the knowledge of ecological equilibria that regulate the sustainability of protected areas, especially the more anthropized areas, is necessary both for commercial and biological purposes [41,42].…”

Nutrient Analysis in Arctic Waters Using a Portable Sensing Platform

“…In order to support the implementation of European Union marine policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) the European FP7 project COMMON SENSE aimed to develop cost-effective, easy to use, sensitive sensors for environmental monitoring (Ribotti et al, 2015). One of the core research goals was to develop costeffective sensors to increase the availability of standardised data on eutrophication (Padedda et al, 2019) in European marine regions and sub-regions.…”