Zooplankton responses to hydrological and trophic variability in a Mediterranean coastal ecosystem (Lesina Lagoon, South Adriatic Sea)

How does mesh-size selection reshape the description of zooplankton community structure in coastal lakes?

“…The 200-mm-mesh abundances oscillated within the same range as reported by Zagami and Guglielmo (1995) and Zagami and Brugnano (2013) in the same study area. These are comparable to those recorded for other similar temperate Mediterranean coastal lakes (Belmonte and Bianchi, 1992;Cavallo and Belmonte, 1995;Campolmi et al, 2001;Brugnano et al, 2011). The 200-mm mesh abundances were an order of magnitude lower than those of some tropical lagoons, such as Guaraíras Lagoon (Brazil), but are similar when compared to those obtained with 80-mm-mesh nets in the same environment (Almeida et al, 2012).…”

“…This demonstrates that differences in the sampling methods, and especially in the mesh size of the sampling net, preclude detailed comparisons of zooplankton densities between environments. Furthermore, as in similar coastal ecosystems in the Mediterranean (Cavallo and Belmonte, 1995;Zagami and Guglielmo, 1995;Campolmi et al, 2001;Brugnano et al, 2011), the mesozooplanktonic community is characterized by the dominance of a few copepod species. In Lake Faro, these were not only calanoids, but also cyclopoids and other meroplanktonic groups, with their strong biological and seasonal cycles.…”

“…Therefore, they were more efficiently sampled by the WP2, probably because of a reasonably higher filtered water volume. In fact, differently from a marine coastal or pelagic ecosystem, the copepod species which can inhabit and perform all their biological cycles in a coastal confined environment are very few and only those characterized by short life cycles (Cavallo and Belmonte, 1995;Zagami and Guglielmo, 1995;Campolmi et al, 2001;Brugnano et al, 2011;Belmonte et al, 2013). Moreover, an underestimation of abundances and composition, mainly of rare species, can be excluded due to net clogging: in fact, according to the ratio filtering area/mouth area, reported for the two nets, they corresponds to the minimum proposed by Ohman (2013) for efficient sampling, and a ratio of 10:1 to prevent clogging was preconized for eutrophic environments (Ohman, 2013).…”

Temporal variations of zooplankton biomass in the Ligurian Sea inferred from long time series of ADCP data

“…(McGehee et al, 2004;Licandro and Ibanez, 2000), no one species shows a strong diel vertical migration (Andersen, 2001b). Indeed, according to Brugnano et al (2011), only species of the Scolecithricidae family show significant DVM in the area, confirming previous information about the presence of a few strong migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, it may be supposed that the species mainly responsible for the strong Sv signal found in some periods of this study, at times of small biomass, are ascribable to the macroplanktonic/micronektonic component.…”

Southwest monsoon influences the water quality and waste assimilative capacity in the Mandovi estuary (Goa state, India)

“…The TSI is a classification system designed to 'rate' individual water bodies based on the amount of biological productivity/ eutrophication rate occurring in water. [6,48] The quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and other biologically useful nutrients are the primary determinants of the water body's TSI. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus tend to be limiting resources in standing water bodies and increased concentrations tend to result in increased plant growth, followed by analogous increase in subsequent levels.…”