A study of planktonic populations in relation to the eutrophication state of the water in a Ligurian sea zone

This study examines the water characteristics of a neritic zone in front of Genova (Ligurian Sea). Sampling was carried out during the spring to summer period of 1989, 1990 and 1991 at two stations. The depth of the first station was 20 m while the depth of the second one which was not fixed was 100 m during 1989 and 700 m during the samplings of 1990 and 1991. Some physico-chemical parameters, total bacteria, total and faecal coliforms and phyto- and zooplanktonic biotic communities were considered. On the whole, all recorded values show a generalized oligotrophic state of the water; nevertheless, an increasing trend of some parameters in the coastal station, probably due to anthropogenic causes, was occasionally indicated. Classification and ordination techniques were applied to define temporal and structural changes of the community.