Stato trofico, fitoplancton e flora batterica lungo la Costa Pugliese Adriatica (1995-1997)

The coastal areas of the Southern Adriatic Sea, in particular the Apulian ones, may be considered an example of intact ecosystem and represent an ideal term of comparison to other marine ecosystems having higher levels of pollution (Northern Adriatic Sea). In order to evaluate the sanitary levels of this environment, four transects were investigated during two years monitoring (April 1995-March 1997) along the Otranto Channel coasts, by joint research groups from the Laboratorio di Igiene dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the Istituto Sperimentale Talassografico "A. Cerruti" in Taranto. The study underlines the phytoplanktonic and bacterial population dynamics, and on the detection of the microbiological water quality along the coast tract Brindisi-S. M. di Leuca. The results acquired pointed out population dynamics of some potentially toxic species of Dinophysis genus and Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima. These depended on the winter nutrient loads due to the A.S.W. (Adriatic Surface Water) and to the L.I.W. (Levantine Intermediate Waters). The bacterial community was mainly constituted by the genera Aeromonas, Photobacterium, Cytophaga and Pseudomonas. Noticeable was also the presence of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Among the pathogenic vibrios the most frequently isolated species were Vibrio alginolyticus and V. vulnificus.