2014/01/01 by Chiara Facca, Sonia Ceoldo, Nicola Pellegrino +1 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Biology #Biomass (ecology) #Coastal and Marine Management #Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics #Ecology #Ecosystem #Environmental science #Eutrophication #Geology #Marine and coastal plant biology #Nutrient #Oceanography #Seagrass #Total organic carbon #Trophic level #Wetland
paper · pdf · doi:10.1155/2014/968618
openalex publication_date 2014/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The goals of conservation and sustainable use of environmental ecosystems have increased the need for detailed knowledge of ecological evolution and responses to both anthropogenic pressures and recovery measures. The present study shows the effects of natural processes and planned intervention in terms of reducing nutrient inputs in a highly exploited coastal lagoon, describing its evolution over a 16-year period from the late 1980s (when eutrophication was at its peak) until 2003. Changes in nutrient and carbon concentrations in the top layer of sediments were investigated in parallel with macroalgal and seagrass biomass in the most anthropized basin of Venice Lagoon in four surveys conducted in accordance with the same protocols in 1987, 1993, 1998, and 2003. A pronounced reduction in trophic state (mainly total nitrogen, organic phosphorus, and organic carbon concentrations) and macroalgal biomass was recorded, together with the progressive expansion of seagrass meadows. General considerations are also made on the effects of Manila clam farming and the shift from illegal to managed clam farming.