Preliminarna studija o vertikalnim migracijama dinoflagelata u dinamičnom obalnom moru (Tršćanski zaljev, sjeverni Jadran)

The purpose of this preliminary study was to define the vertical migration pattern in the dinoflagellate community in the shallow coastal sea. Migrations were followed in an area of mussel farming, through two 24-hour samplings, first during mixed and second during stratified water column conditions. Despite variable physical environment we were able to follow vertical migrations of some autotrophic dinoflagellate species in the period of stratified water column. The results also suggest that Heterocapsa sp. may preserve its vertical migration pattern also under mixed conditions. Migrations were observed also for Dinophysis sacculus that can cause DSP problems in the area.Svrha ove preliminarne studije je definirati obrasce vertikalnih migracija zajednice dinoflagelata u plitkom obalnom moru. Migracije su praćene na području uzgoja dagnji, kroz dva 24-satna uzorkovanja, prvo za vrijeme pomiješanih i drugo za vrijeme stratificiranih uvjeta vodenog stupca. Unatoč promjenjivom fizičkom okolišu bili smo u mogućnosti slijediti vertikalne migracije nekih autotrofnih vrsta dinoflagelata u razdoblju stratificiranog vodenog stupca. Rezultati također sugeriraju da Heterocapsa sp. može očuvati obrazac svoje vertikalne migracije čak i u pomiješanim uvjetima. Migracije su promatrane i za vrstu Dinophysis sacculus koja može uzrokovati dijaretičko trovanje školjkama (DSP) na tom području

Najprikladnije vrijeme i dubina za uzorkovanje livada morske cvjetnice Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson, u plitkom obalnom području. Iskustva iz sjevernog Jadrana

The Lesser Neptune grass, Cymodocea nodosa, is the most common seagrass species in shallow sheltered to semi-exposed sites along the Mediterranean soft bottom. The MediSkew index was recently developed as an improvement of the CymSkew index, in order to assess the status of C. nodosa meadows correctly in view of the implementation of three European Directives. The index takes into account the length of the photosynthetic part of C. nodosa leaves, which increases from the less degraded meadow to the most degraded meadow. To adequately assess temporal and spatial trends in the status of C. nodosa meadows, including estimates of the effects of natural disturbances within marine protected areas, the MediSkew index was applied to new samples collected at 3 m and at 6 m of depth, during two months (in July and in September). The analyses are discussed in view of monitoring and conservation of C. nodosa meadows. According to the results of this study, the monitoring programme in the northern Adriatic Sea should be conducted in July, with the collection of samples at 3 m of depth. The presented sampling and assessing methodology proved to be time- and cost-effective for the evaluation of the status of C. nodosa meadows and of human-induced pressures.Čvorasta morska resa, Cymodocea nodosa, najučestalija je vrsta morske cvjetnice u plitkim zaklonjenim i poluzaklonjenim uvalama duž mediteranskog mekog dna. MediSkew indeks je nedavno razvijen kao poboljšanje indeksa CymSkew u cilju ispravne procjene stanja livada vrste C. nodosa u skladu s provedbom triju europskih direktiva. Indeks u obzir uzima duljinu foto sintetskog dijela lišća C. nodosa, koji se povećava od manje do najviše degradirane livade. Kako bi se na odgovarajući način procijenili vremenski i prostorni trendovi stanja livada vrste C. nodosa, uključujući procjene učinaka prirodnih poremećaja unutar zaštićenih morskih područja, MediSkew indeks primijenjen je na nove uzorke prikupljene na 3m dubine i na 6m dubine, tijekom srpnja i rujna. Analize su rađene s obzirom na praćenje i očuvanje livada vrsteC. nodosa. Prema rezultatima ovog istraživanja, program praćenja u sjevernom Jadranu trebao bi biti proveden u srpnju, a uzorci bi se prikupljali na 3m dubine. Prikazana metodologija uzorkovanja i procjenjivanja pokazala se vremenski i troškovno učinkovita za procjenu stanja livada vrste C. nodosa i ljudskog utjecaja na njih

Najprikladnije vrijeme i dubina za uzorkovanje livada morske cvjetnice Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson, u plitkom obalnom području. Iskustva iz sjevernog Jadrana

The Lesser Neptune grass, Cymodocea nodosa, is the most common seagrass species in shallow sheltered to semi-exposed sites along the Mediterranean soft bottom. The MediSkew index was recently developed as an improvement of the CymSkew index, in order to assess the status of C. nodosa meadows correctly in view of the implementation of three European Directives. The index takes into account the length of the photosynthetic part of C. nodosa leaves, which increases from the less degraded meadow to the most degraded meadow. To adequately assess temporal and spatial trends in the status of C. nodosa meadows, including estimates of the effects of natural disturbances within marine protected areas, the MediSkew index was applied to new samples collected at 3 m and at 6 m of depth, during two months (in July and in September). The analyses are discussed in view of monitoring and conservation of C. nodosa meadows. According to the results of this study, the monitoring programme in the northern Adriatic Sea should be conducted in July, with the collection of samples at 3 m of depth. The presented sampling and assessing methodology proved to be time- and cost-effective for the evaluation of the status of C. nodosa meadows and of human-induced pressures.Čvorasta morska resa, Cymodocea nodosa, najučestalija je vrsta morske cvjetnice u plitkim zaklonjenim i poluzaklonjenim uvalama duž mediteranskog mekog dna. MediSkew indeks je nedavno razvijen kao poboljšanje indeksa CymSkew u cilju ispravne procjene stanja livada vrste C. nodosa u skladu s provedbom triju europskih direktiva. Indeks u obzir uzima duljinu foto sintetskog dijela lišća C. nodosa, koji se povećava od manje do najviše degradirane livade. Kako bi se na odgovarajući način procijenili vremenski i prostorni trendovi stanja livada vrste C. nodosa, uključujući procjene učinaka prirodnih poremećaja unutar zaštićenih morskih područja, MediSkew indeks primijenjen je na nove uzorke prikupljene na 3m dubine i na 6m dubine, tijekom srpnja i rujna. Analize su rađene s obzirom na praćenje i očuvanje livada vrsteC. nodosa. Prema rezultatima ovog istraživanja, program praćenja u sjevernom Jadranu trebao bi biti proveden u srpnju, a uzorci bi se prikupljali na 3m dubine. Prikazana metodologija uzorkovanja i procjenjivanja pokazala se vremenski i troškovno učinkovita za procjenu stanja livada vrste C. nodosa i ljudskog utjecaja na njih

Evaluation of the rbcL marker for metabarcoding of marine diatoms and inference of population structure of selected genera

Diatoms are one of the most important phytoplankton groups in the world’s oceans. There are responsible for up to 40% of the photosynthetic activity in the Ocean, and they play an important role in the silicon and carbon cycles by decoupling carbon from atmospheric interactions through sinking and export. These processes are strongly influenced by the taxonomic composition of diatom assemblages. Traditionally, these have been assessed using microscopy, which in some cases is not reliable or reproducible. Next-generation sequencing enabled us to study diversity in a high-throughput manner and uncover new distribution patterns and diversity. However, phylogenetic markers used for this purpose, such as various 18S rDNA regions, are often insufficient because they cannot distinguish between some taxa. In this work, we demonstrate the performance of the chloroplast-encoded rbcL marker for metabarcoding marine diatoms compared to microscopy and 18S-V9 metabarcoding using a series of monthly samples from the Gulf of Trieste (GoT), northern Adriatic Sea. We demonstrate that rbcL is able to detect more taxa compared to 18S-V9 metabarcoding or microscopy, while the overall structure of the diatom assemblage was comparable to the other two methods with some variations, that were taxon dependent. In total, 6 new genera and 22 new diatom species for the study region were identified. We were able to spot misidentification of genera obtained with microscopy such as Pseudo-nitzschia galaxiae, which was mistaken for Cylindrotheca closterium, as well as genera that were completely overlooked, such as Minidiscus and several genera from the Cymatosiraceae family. Furthermore, on the example of two well-studied genera in the region, namely Chaetoceros and particularly Pseudo-nitzschia, we show how the rbcL method can be used to infer even deeper phylogenetic and ecologically significant differences at the species population level. Despite a very thorough community analysis obtained by rbcL the incompleteness of reference databases was still evident, and we shed light on possible improvements. Our work has further implications for studies dealing with taxa distribution and population structure, as well as carbon and silica flux models and networks

Marine Strategy Framework Directive - Descriptor 2, Non-Indigenous Species, Delivering solid recommendations for setting threshold values for non-indigenous species pressure on European seas

Marine Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) are animals and plants introduced accidently or deliberately into the European seas, originating from other seas of the globe. About 800 marine non-indigenous species (NIS) currently occur in the European Union national marine waters, several of which have negative impacts on marine ecosystem services and biodiversity. Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Descriptor 2 (D2), EU Member States (MSs) need to consider NIS in their marine management strategies. The Descriptor D2 includes one primary criterion (D2C1: new NIS introductions), and two secondary criteria (D2C2 and D2C3). The D2 implementation is characterized by a number of issues and uncertainties which can be applicable to the Descriptor level (e.g. geographical unit of assessment, assessment period, phytoplanktonic, parasitic, oligohaline NIS, etc.), to the primary criterion D2C1 level (e.g. threshold values, cryptogenic, questionable species, etc), and to the secondary criteria D2C2 and D2C3. The current report tackles these issues and provides practical recommendations aiming at a smoother and more efficient implementation of D2 and its criteria at EU level. They constitute a solid operational output which can result in more comparable D2 assessments among MSs and MSFD regions/subregions. When it comes to the policy-side, the current report calls for a number of different categories of NIS to be reported in D2 assessments, pointing the need for the species to be labelled/categorised appropriately in the MSFD reporting by the MSs. These suggestions are proposed to be communicated to the MSFD Working Group of Good Environmental Status (GES) and subsequently to the Marine Strategy Coordination Group (MSCG) of MSFD. Moreover, they can serve as an input for revising the Art. 8 Guidelines

Assessment of the ecological status of the Northern Adriatic coastal waters: testing and adapting two phytoplankton indices

As stated in the WFD, the response of phytoplankton to eutrophication of coastal waters needs to be assessed by evaluating biomass, composition and abundance, and blooms. We present the application of two indices (Ie, Iss), which goes beyond the only metrics (Chlorophyll a concentrations) considered till now in the Mediterranean intercalibration group

First occurrence of the dinoflagellate Ceratoperidinium yeye in the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic)

This paper presents the first recording of rare dinoflagellate species, Ceraptoperidinium yeye, in the Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic, in summer of 2003, which coincided chronologically with its first finding along the eastern Adriatic coast..