Phosphorus metabolism in anthropogenically transformed lagoon ecosystems: The Comacchio lagoons (Ferrara, Italy)

Inorganic phosphorus dynamics were investigated with the use of 32P in the hypertrophic Comacchio lagoons (NE Adriatic) during an extremely dense, quasi-permanent bloom of picocyanobacteria. Concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) in waters of the blooming lagoons were usually near the detection limit (0.01 μmoles·dm−3). DIP uptake rates by microplankton at near-ambient concentrations (0.01 to 0.1 μmoles·dm−3) were in the range of 9.6 to 16.1 nmoles P·dm−3·min−1, and turnover times were 1.5 to 3 min. The turnover time was >40 h in the eutrophic coastal waters of the adjacent Adriatic Sea. The uptake rate of DIP depended on its initial concentration. In water samples artificially enriched with DIP, the uptake rate rose to its maximum of 0.10 to 0.13 μmoles P·dm−3·min−1 (or ∼6 to 7 μmoles·dm−3·h−1) when the initial concentration of DIP was elevated to 10 to 20 μmoles·dm−3. The potential capacity of microplankton in the water samples to consume and retain DIP was estimated at ∼25 μmoles·dm−3. Specific features are discussed of phosphorus metabolism in the anthropogenically transformed lagoon ecosystem with an anomalous food web with few animals.