The influence of the Po River discharge on phytoplankton bloom dynamics along the coastline of Pesaro (Italy) in the Adriatic Sea

In recent years, eutrophic phenomena have frequently been reported in the Italian coastal waters of the northern Adriatic Sea. The aim of the present study was to determine that the phytoplankton blooms occurring along the Italian coastline in the area of Pesaro are caused by the Po River waters. In fact between October and December 2000 the nutrient load flushed into the sea from local rivers is not significant (phosphorus 10 tons and nitrogen 110 tons), instead N and P load from the Po River are: 650 and 8969 tons. The bloom episodes occurred during this period, at which time hypoxia developed on the sea bottom. The phytoplankton cell concentrations were 40.0 x 10(6) cells L-1, and a significant presence of diatoms was observed. This issue is important in analysing the anthropogenic disturbances and environmental changes. The eutrophic seawater conditions were also analysed using the eutrophic index. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.