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- Evaluation of eutrophication in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon, PortugalPublication . Newton, Alice; Icely, John; Falcão, Manuela; Nobre, A.; Nunes, J.; Ferreira, J.; Vale, C.The Ria Formosa is a shallow mesotidal lagoon on the south coast of Portugal, with natural biogeochemical cycles essentially regulated by tidal exchanges at the seawater boundaries and at the sediment interface. Existing data on nutrients in the water column and the sediment, together with chlorophyll a and oxygen saturation in the water column,compared using different models for assessing eutrophication. The European Environmental Agency criteria are based on the comparison of nutrient concentrations which indicate that the situation in the Ria Formosa is ‘‘poor’’ to ‘‘bad’’. In contrast, the United States Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment is based on symptoms, including high chlorophyll a and low oxygen saturation, which indicate that the Ria Formosa is near pristine. Despite these contradictions, a preliminary assessment by Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impact, Reponses(DPSIR) of eutrophication demonstrate the potential for episodic eutrophic conditions from treated and untreated domestic effluent as well as from non-point source agricultural run off. Sediments are also an important source of nutrients in the lagoon, but their contribution to potential eutrophic conditions is unknown.
- The yield of chlorophyll from nitrogen: a comparison between the shallow Ria Formosa lagoon and the deep oceanic conditions at Sagres along southern coast of PortugalPublication . Edwards, Vivien; Icely, John; Newton, Alice; Webster, RuthThe yield of chlorophyll from dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) has been shown to be a potentially useful parameter for predicting eutrophication, particularly, in the northerly, coastal waters of the North East Atlantic (NEA). This study investigates whether this parameter might also be appropriate for the southerly, coastal waters of the NEA. Nitrogen enrichment experiments were carried out using microcosms to determine the microplanktonic yield of chlorophyll from DIN in waters from the Ria Formosa (April 2002) and from Sagres (September 2002) on the south coast of Portugal. Continuous culture techniques enabled experiments to be run for 7 days after enrichment so that changes in the cumulative yield over time could be calculated. Yields from the Sagres experiment were consistently higher than those from the Ria Formosa experiment, with respective maximum yields of 4.7 and 2.1 mg chl (mmol N) 1, and respective steady-state yields of 3.1 and 0.9 mg chl (mmol N) 1. In addition, regressions carried out on historical data sets from the two study sites showed poor correlation between chlorophyll and nitrate. Other differences between the microcosm experiments at the two sites, included: background concentrations of DIN, silicate and phosphate that were, respectively, 5.6 mM, 8.1 mM, and 0.3 mMhigher in the Ria; chlorophyll concentrations at Sagres that were double those of the Ria; accumulation of particulate nitrogen that was both more rapid and more substantial at Sagres; a different community structure for the diatoms at the two sites; more numerous autotrophic dinoflagellates, flagellates and cyanobacteria, as well as more numerous protozoan grazers, at Sagres. These differences may explain why the yield of chlorophyll from DIN at Sagres is one of the highest reported in the literature. This yield parameter requires further study under a range of seasonal conditions and with a range of microplankton communities before it could be considered useful for predicting eutrophication throughout the coastal waters of the NEA.
- Management of coastal eutrophication: integration of field data, ecosystem-scale simulations and screening modelsPublication . Nobre, A.; Ferreira, J.; Newton, Alice; Simas, T.; Icely, John; Neves, R.A hybrid approach for eutrophication assessment in estuarine and coastal ecosystems is presented. The ASSETS screening model (http://www.eutro.org) classifies eutrophication status into five classes: High (better), Good, Moderate, Poor and Bad (worse). This model was applied to a dataset from a shallow coastal barrier island system in southwest Europe (Ria Formosa), with a resulting score of Good. A detailed dynamic model was developed for this ecosystem, and the outputs were used to drive the screening model. Four scenarios were run on the research model: pristine, standard (simulates present loading), half and double the current nutrient loading. The Ria Formosa has a short water residence time and eutrophication symptoms are not apparent in the water column. However, benthic symptoms are expressed as excessive macroalgal growth and strong dissolved oxygen fluctuations in the tide pools. The standard simulation results showed an ASSETS grade identical to the field data application. The application of the screening model to the other scenario outputs showed the responsiveness of ASSETS to changes in pressure, state and response, scoring a grade of High under pristine conditions, Good for half the standard scenario and Moderate for double the present loadings. The use of this hybrid approach allows managers to test the outcome of measures against a set of well-defined metrics for the evaluation of state. It additionally provides a way of testing and improving the pressure component of ASSETS. Sensitivity analysis revealed that sub-sampling the output of the research model at a monthly scale, typical for the acquisition of field data, may significantly affect the outcome of the screening model, by overlooking extreme events such as occasional night-time anoxia in tide pools.