Noctiluca scintillans MACARTNEY in the Northern Adriatic Sea: long-term dynamics, relationships with temperature and eutrophication, and role in the food web |
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Authors: | Fonda Umani S; Beran A; Parlato S; Virgilio D; Zollet T; De Olazabal A; Lazzarini B; Cabrini M |
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Institution: | 1 Laboratory of Marine Biology, via Piccard 54, 34010 Trieste S. Croce and 2 Department of Biology, University of Trieste, via Giorgeri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy |
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Abstract: | The first bloom of Noctiluca scintillans in theNorthern Adriatic Sea was recorded in 1977. The organism causedseveral red tides in the whole basin during the late 1970s,a period characterized by increasing nutrient loads. Duringthe 1980s and early 1990s, there was no red tide,but the species was an almost constant summer presence, associatedwith high temperatures. Noctiluca scintillans was almost completelyabsent from 1994 until May 1997, concurrent with a general planktondecrease. From summer 1997, N. scintillans was recorded againin the whole basin, although there was no other signal of increasingeutrophication. In contrast to all previous observations, duringwinter 20022003, N. scintillans was continuously sampledin the Gulf of Trieste. We estimated experimentally growth andgrazing rates of the dinoflagellate at 910°C in cultureand consuming the natural assemblage. Noctiluca scintillanswas able to reproduce actively at low temperatures, showingsimilar growth rates in both experiments (k = 0.2 day1).The values found were close to those reported in the literaturefor higher temperatures. The natural diet was mainly composedof phytoplankton (ingestion = 0.008 µg C Noctiluca 1day1), microzooplankton (ingestion = 0.008 µg CNoctiluca 1 day1) and bacteria (ingestion = 0.005µg C Noctiluca 1 day1) with an average carboncontent of 0.138 ± 0.020 µg C Noctiluca cell1. |
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