Literature-based insights into phytoplankton ecology at the Long-Term Ecological Research - Italy site Venice Lagoon

Since 1998, phytoplankton communities have been systematically studied at five stations in the northern and central parts of the Venice Lagoon (VL). The long-term maintenance of this phytoplankton data series, alongside similar datasets for other communities (e.g., zooplankton, macrozoobenthos, and macrophytes), has contributed to the inclusion of the VL as a site in the Italian Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. In this paper, we synthesize key insights into the phytoplankton ecology of the VL’s LTER stations, based exclusively on published studies. Specifically, we provide an overview of phytoplankton taxonomic composition, morphological traits, seasonal succession, long-term trends and interactions with the other components of the planktonic communities.

Acri F, Bernardi Aubry F, Bianchi F, et al., 2004. Changes in nutrients and plankton communities in the lagoon of Venice from 1970s until today. J Mar Sys 51:321-9.

Acri F, Braga F, Bernardi Aubry F, 2020. Long-term dynamics in nutrients, chlorophyll-a and water quality parameters in the lagoon of Venice. Sci Mar 84:215-25.

Armeli Minicante S, Piredda R, Quero GM, et al., 2020. Spatial diversity of planktonic protists in the Lagoon of Venice (LTER-Italy) based on 18S rDNA. Advances in Oceanography and Limnology 11:8961.

Bandelj V, Socal G, Park Y-S, et al., 2008. Analysis of multitrophic plankton assemblages in the lagoon of Venice. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 368:23-40.

Bec B, Collos Y, Souchu P, et al., 2011. Distribution of picophytoplankton and nanophytoplankton along an anthropogenic eutrophication gradient in French Mediterranean coastal lagoons. Aquat Microb Ecol 63:29-45.

Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, Bastianini M, et al., 2022. Differences and similarities in the phytoplankton communities of two coupled transitional and marine ecosystems (the Lagoon of Venice and the Gulf of Venice - Northern Adriatic Sea). Front Mar Sci 9:974967.

Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, Bianchi F, Pugnetti A, 2013. Looking for patterns in the phytoplankton community of the Mediterranean microtidal Venice lagoon: Evidence from ten years of observations. Sci Mar 77:47-60.

Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, Finotto S, Pugnetti A, 2021. Phytoplankton dynamics and water quality in the Venice lagoon. Water 13:2780.

Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, Scarpa GM, Braga F, 2020. Phytoplankton– macrophyte interaction in the lagoon of Venice (Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy). Water 12:2810.

Bernardi Aubry F, Cossarini G, Acri F, et al., 2012. Plankton communities in the northern Adriatic Sea: Patterns and changes over the last 30 years. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 115:125-37.

Bernardi Aubry F, Pugnetti A, Roselli L, et al., 2017. Phytoplankton morphological traits in a nutrient-enriched, turbulent Mediterranean microtidal lagoon. J Plankton Res 39:564-76.

Bianchi F, Acri F, Bernardi Aubry F, et al., 2003. Can plankton com- munities be considered as bio-indicators of water quality in the lagoon of Venice? Mar Poll Bull 46:964-71.

Cabrini M, Fornasaro D, Cossarini G, et al., 2012. Phytoplankton temporal changes in a coastal northern Adriatic site during the last 25 years. Est Coast Shelf Sci 115:113-24.

Capotondi L, Ravaioli M, Acosta A, et al., 2021. La Rete Italiana per la Ricerca Ecologica di Lungo Termine. Lo studio della biodiversità e dei cambiamenti. CNR-Edizioni, Rome, Italy.

Cebrian C, Valiela I, 1999. Seasonal patterns in phytoplankton biomass in coastal ecosystems. J Plankton Res 21:429-44.

Cloern JE, Jassby AD, 2008. Complex seasonal patterns of primary producers at the land–sea interface. Ecol Lett 11:1294-303.

Cloern JE, Jassby AD, 2010. Patterns and scales of phytoplankton variability in estuarine-coastal ecosystems. Estuaries Coasts 33:230-41.

Coppola J, Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, Pugnetti A, 2006. Picophytoplankton contribution to phytoplankton community in the Venice Lagoon. Scientific Research and Safeguarding of Venice 2006, CORILA Research Programme,Vol. V: 245-254.

Coppola J, Bernardi Aubry F, Acri F, et al., 2007. Dimensional structure of phytoplankton community in the Venice lagoon. Scientific Research and the Safeguarding of Venice 2007, CORILA Research Programme, Vol. VI: 313- 322.

Elliott M, McLusky DS, 2002. The need for definitions in understanding estuaries. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 55:815-27.

European Union, 2000. Parliament and Council Directive 2000/60/ EC of 23rd October 2000 Establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy. Official Journal PE-CONS 3639/1/00 REV 1, Brussels.

Facca C, Bernardi Aubry F, Socal G, et al., 2014. Description of a Multimetric Phytoplankton Index (MPI) for the assessment of transitional waters. Mar Pollut Bull 79:145-54.

Facca C, Sfriso A, 2007. Epipelic diatom spatial and temporal distribution and relationship with the main environmental parameters in coastal waters. Est Coast Shelf Sci 75:35-49.

Facca C, Sfriso A, Socal G, 2002. Changes in abundance and composition of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos due to increased sediment fluxes in the Venice lagoon, Italy. Est Coast Shelf Sci 54:773-92.

Glibert PM, Boyer JN, Heil C, et al., 2010. Blooms in lagoons: different from those of river dominated estuaries. In: Kennish M, Paerl H (eds.), Coastal lagoons: Critical habitats of environmental change. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL, USA.

Hulburt EM, 1963. The diversity of phytoplankton population in oceanic, coastal and estuarine regions. J Mar Res 21:81-93.

Leruste A, Malet N, Munaros D, et al., 2016. First steps of ecological restoration in Mediterranean lagoons: Shifts in phytoplankton communities. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 180:190-213.

Loschi M, D’Alelio D, Camattti E, et al., 2024. Planktonic ecological networks support quantification of changes in ecosystem health and functioning. Scientific Reports 13:16683.

Margalef R, 1978. Life-forms of phytoplankton as survival alternatives in an unstable environment. Oceanol Acta 1:493-509.

Menhinick EP, 1964. A comparison of some species-individuals diversity indices applied to samples of field insects. Ecology 45:859-61.

Mirtl M, Kuhn I, Montheith D, et al., 2021. Whole system approach for in-situ research on life supporting systems in the anthropocene (WAILS). Available from: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/EGU21-16425.html

Mollenhauer H, Kasner M, Haase P, et al., 2018. Long-term environmental monitoring infrastructures in Europe: observations, measurements, scales, and socio-ecological representativeness. Sci Total Environ 624:968-78.

Mozetic P, Francé J, Kogovsek T, et al., 2012. Plankton trends and community changes in a coastal sea (northern adriatic): bottom-up vs. top-down control in relation to environmental drivers. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 115:138-48.

Neri F, Romagnoli T, Accoronia S, et al., 2022. Phytoplankton and environmental drivers at a long-term offshore station in the northern Adriatic Sea (1988–2018). Cont Shelf Res 242:104746.

Ohnemus T, Dirnbock T, Back J, et al., 2025. Fitness for future: eLTER RI’s representation of climate and land use change. Ecological Indicators 171:113159.

Pacheś M, Romero I, Martıńez-Guijarro R, et al., 2014. Changes in phytoplankton composition in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon in the cullera estany (Comunitat valenciana, Spain). Water Environ J 28:135-44.

Pugnetti A, Del Negro P, Giani M, et al., 2010. Phytoplankton-bacterioplankton interactions and carbon fluxes through microbial communities in a microtidal lagoon. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 72:153-64.

Reynolds CS, 1994. The long, the short and the stalled: on the attributes of phytoplankton selected by physical mixing in lakes and rivers. Hydrobiologia 289:9-21.

Reynolds CS, 2003. Pelagic community assembly and the habitat template. Bocconea 16:323-39.

Sfriso A, Facca C, Ceoldo S, Marcomini A, 2005. Recording the occurrence of trophic level changes in the lagoon of Venice over the ‘90s. Environ Int 31:993-1001.

Tagliapietra D, Zanon V, Frangipane G, et al., 2009. Physiographic zoning of the Venetian Lagoon. In: Campostrini P. (ed.), Scientific Research and Safeguarding of Venice, vol. VII - 2007-2010 results.

Zacharias, S, Lumpi T, Weldon J, et al., 2025. Achieving harmonized and integrated long-term environmental observation of essential ecosystem variables - eLTER's Framework of Standard Observations. ESS Open Archive. Available from: https://essopenarchive.org/users/530529/articles/1306753-achieving-harmonized-and-integrated-long-term-environmental-observation-of-essential-ecosystem-variables-elter-s-framework-of-standard-observations

Winder M, Cloern JE, 2010. The annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass. Phil Trans R Soc B 365:3215-26.