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Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas
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Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2021) | Viewed by 12653

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Patricija Mozetič

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station Piran, Fornače 41, 6330 Piran, Slovenia
Interests: phytoplankton ecology and physiology; harmful algal blooms; eutrophication; time series; climate change
Dr. Janja Francé

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station Piran, Fornače 41, 6330 Piran, Slovenia
Interests: toxic phytoplankton species and harmful algal blooms; monitoring program of coastal sea quality; eutrophication; phytoplankton time series; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal seas are highly dynamic marine ecosystems where responses of pelagic and benthic communities to anthropogenic pressures are superimposed to the intrinsic natural variability of coastal seas. This is especially evident in case of climate change-induced stressors that may act on coastal ecosystems through changes in patterns of local/regional meteorology and hydrology. 

Drivers of the variability in the first trophic level of pelagic food webs, i.e., phytoplankton, are therefore difficult to attribute to specific pressure(s) and consequently predict changes that might affect also higher trophic levels. Phytoplankton undertakes different ecological strategies and physiological adaptations (e.g., community structure, cell size, pigment composition, photosynthetic performance, production of secondary metabolites) along environmental gradients to counteract pressures and eventually ensure ecosystem functioning. 

Straightforward responses of fast-growing phytoplankton to environmental gradients can be detected in laboratory experiments that mimic the natural variability of the pelagic habitat and anthropogenic stressors but the interpretation of results is often difficult to translate to natural conditions. 

This special issue, therefore, addresses phytoplankton time-series that unveil patterns in biodiversity, ecological and physiological features as well as changes in patterns and drivers of these changes. Articles and Reviews that are based on empirical and modeled data are welcomed. 

Dr. Patricija Mozetič
Dr. Janja Francé
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Coastal seas
  • Phytoplankton
  • Biodiversity
  • Ecology
  • Physiological adaptations
  • Time series
  • Climate change
  • Anthropogenic pressures

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2476 KiB  
Article
Phytoplankton Pigments Reveal Size Structure and Interannual Variability of the Coastal Phytoplankton Community (Adriatic Sea)
by Vesna Flander-Putrle, Janja Francé and Patricija Mozetič
Water 2022, 14(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010023 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2832
Abstract
In coastal seas, a variety of environmental variables characterise the average annual pattern of the physico-chemical environment and influence the temporal and spatial variations of phytoplankton communities. The aim of this study was to track the annual and interannual variability of phytoplankton biomass [...] Read more.
In coastal seas, a variety of environmental variables characterise the average annual pattern of the physico-chemical environment and influence the temporal and spatial variations of phytoplankton communities. The aim of this study was to track the annual and interannual variability of phytoplankton biomass in different size classes in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea) using phytoplankton pigments. The seasonal pattern of phytoplankton size classes showed a co-dominance of the nano and micro fractions during the spring peak and a predominance of the latter during the autumn peak. The highest picoplankton values occurred during the periods with the lowest total phytoplankton biomass, with chlorophytes dominating during the colder months and cyanobacteria during the summer. The highest number of significant correlations was found between phytoplankton taxa and size classes and temperature, nitrate and nitrite. The most obvious trend observed over the time series was an increase in picoplankton in all water layers, with the most significant trend in the bottom layer. Nano- and microplankton showed greater variation in biomass, with a decrease in nanoplankton biomass in 2011 and 2012 and negative trend in microplankton biomass in the bottom layer. These results suggest that changes in trophic relationships in the pelagic food web may also have implications for biogeochemical processes in the coastal sea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas)
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17 pages, 1404 KiB  
Article
Phytoplankton Dynamics and Water Quality in the Venice Lagoon
by Fabrizio Bernardi Aubry, Francesco Acri, Stefania Finotto and Alessandra Pugnetti
Water 2021, 13(19), 2780; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13192780 - 08 Oct 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3103
Abstract
We analyzed the phytoplankton abundance and community structure monthly over a 20-year period (1998–2017) at five stations in the Venice lagoon (VL), one of the sites belonging to the Long-Term Ecological Research network of Italy (LTER-Italy). We focused on phytoplankton seasonal patterns, inter-annual [...] Read more.
We analyzed the phytoplankton abundance and community structure monthly over a 20-year period (1998–2017) at five stations in the Venice lagoon (VL), one of the sites belonging to the Long-Term Ecological Research network of Italy (LTER-Italy). We focused on phytoplankton seasonal patterns, inter-annual variability and long-term trends in relation to water quality. Diatoms numerically dominated (ca. 60% on average), followed by nanoflagellates (37%), while coccolithophorids and dinoflagellates contributed less than 2%. We observed distinct seasonal and inter-annual changes in the abundance and floristic composition of the phytoplankton groups, whilst no clear long-term trend was statistically significant. We also assessed the water quality changes, applying to our dataset the multimetric phytoplankton index (MPI), recently officially adopted by Italy to accomplish the water framework directive (WFD) requirements. The index evidenced a temporal improvement of the water quality from “moderate” to “good” and allowed us to confirm its reliability to address the changes in the water quality, not only spatially—as previously known—but also for following the yearly time trends. Overall, our results highlight the importance of long-term observations, for understanding the variability in the phytoplankton communities of the lagoon as well as the relevance of their use to test and apply synthetic descriptors of water quality, in compliance with the environmental directives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas)
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26 pages, 8255 KiB  
Article
Phytoplankton Time-Series in a LTER Site of the Adriatic Sea: Methodological Approach to Decipher Community Structure and Indicative Taxa
by Ivano Vascotto, Patricija Mozetič and Janja Francé
Water 2021, 13(15), 2045; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13152045 - 27 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2371
Abstract
In the shallow and landlocked northeast Adriatic Sea, environmental factors have changed in recent decades. Their influence on seasonal and inter-annual variability of phytoplankton has been documented in the recent literature. Here, we decipher the long-term variability of phytoplankton phenology at a Long-Term [...] Read more.
In the shallow and landlocked northeast Adriatic Sea, environmental factors have changed in recent decades. Their influence on seasonal and inter-annual variability of phytoplankton has been documented in the recent literature. Here, we decipher the long-term variability of phytoplankton phenology at a Long-Term Ecological Research site (Gulf of Trieste, Slovenia). Structural changes in the phytoplankton community (period 2005–2017) were analysed using a multivariate protocol based on Bayesian clustering. The protocol was modified from the literature to fit the needs of the study, using correspondence analysis and k-means clustering. A novel index for ordination and selection of taxa based on frequency and evenness was developed. The Total Inertia analysis showed that this index better preserved the available information. Typical seasonal assemblages were highlighted by applying the Indicative Value index in conjunction with likelihood ratio values. We obtained a rough picture of the seasonal separation of the diatom-dominated community from the mixed community and a refined picture of the phenology of the assemblages and bloom events. The spring diatom peak proved to be inconstant and short-lived, while the autumn bloom was generally long and diverse. As expected for nearshore environments, the average life span of the assemblages was found to be short-periodic (2–4 months). The second part of the year and the last part of the series were more prone to changes in terms of typical assemblages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas)
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22 pages, 5902 KiB  
Article
Comparison of In-Situ Chlorophyll-a Time Series and Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Color Instrument Data in Slovenian National Waters (Gulf of Trieste, Adriatic Sea)
by El Khalil Cherif, Patricija Mozetič, Janja Francé, Vesna Flander-Putrle, Jana Faganeli-Pucer and Martin Vodopivec
Water 2021, 13(14), 1903; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13141903 - 09 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3350
Abstract
While satellite remote sensing of ocean color is a viable tool for estimating large-scale patterns of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and global ocean primary production, its application in coastal waters is limited by the complex optical properties. An exploratory study was conducted in [...] Read more.
While satellite remote sensing of ocean color is a viable tool for estimating large-scale patterns of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and global ocean primary production, its application in coastal waters is limited by the complex optical properties. An exploratory study was conducted in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea) to assess the usefulness of Sentinel-3 satellite data in the Slovenian national waters. OLCI (Ocean and Land Colour Instrument) Chl-a level 2 products (OC4Me and NN) were compared to monthly Chl-a in-situ measurements at fixed sites from 2017 to 2019. In addition, eight other methods for estimating Chl-a concentration based on reflectance in different spectral bands were tested (OC3M, OC4E, MedOC4, ADOC4, AD4, 3B-OLCI, 2B-OLCI and G2B). For some of these methods, calibration was performed on in-situ data to achieve a better agreement. Finally, L1-regularized regression and random forest were trained on the available dataset to test the capabilities of the machine learning approach. The results show rather poor performance of the two originally available products. The same is true for the other eight methods and the fits to the measured values also show only marginal improvement. The best results are obtained with the blue-green methods (OC3, OC4 and AD4), especially the AD4SI (a designated fit of AD4) with R = 0.56 and RMSE = 0.4 mg/m³, while the near infrared (NIR) methods show underwhelming performance. The machine learning approach can only explain 30% of the variability and the RMSE is of the same order as for the blue-green methods. We conclude that due to the low Chl-a concentration and the moderate turbidity of the seawater, the reflectance provided by the Sentinel-3 OLCI spectrometer carries little information about Chl-a in the Slovenian national waters within the Gulf of Trieste and is therefore of limited use for our purposes. This requires that we continue to improve satellite products for use in those marine waters that have not yet proven suitable. In this way, satellite data could be effectively integrated into a comprehensive network that would allow a reliable assessment of ecological status, taking into account environmental regulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology of Coastal Seas)
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