| The Orbetello lagoon consists of two coastal ponds, Laguna di Ponente and Laguna di Levante, characterized by high nutrient concentrations, very poor exchanges with the sea and subjected to recurrent eutrophication crisis mainly in the past decades. To assess its current trophic status, from 1995 to 2001 the temporal evolution and spatial distribution of environmental factors, phytoplankton biomass and composition have been investigated. In this paper, the mean annual cycles of phytoplankton abundance, community structure and diversity are discussed. The seasonal cycles of micro- and nanophytoplankton densities are characterized by high frequency oscillations with fast increasing and decreasing blooms, but generally the lowest densities occur in winter,... |
