title: A comparative analysis of Alexandrium catenella/tamarense blooms in Annaba Bay (Algeria) and Thau lagoon (France); phosphorus limitation as a trigger.
abstract: Environmental conditions ultimately leading to blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella/tamarense were investigated at two Mediterranean sites (Annaba Bay, Algeria and Thau lagoon, France). Three years were examined in details: 1992 (a pre-Alexandrium period), 2002 (a year with the first bloom in Annaba) and 2010 (a year with a major bloom in Annaba). Most conditions were similar, but ammonium concentrations were much higher in Annaba (up to 100μM) than in Thau (up to 10μM). First records of A. catenella/tamarense were in 1995 for Thau and 2002 for Annaba, and coincided with soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) decreasing below a concentration of about 1μM. No other environmental variable could be related to those blooms. Thus, it is likely that the large reductions in SRP at both sites led to phosphorus limitation of a certain number of phytoplankton species and favored the development of A. catenella/tamarense.
authors.affiliation: UMR 5119, UM2-CNRS-IRD, Écologie des systèmes marins côtiers, université Montpellier 2, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France; Laboratoire « bioressources marines », université Badji-Mokhtar-Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, 23000 Annaba, Algeria.
authors.forename: Imene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hadjadji
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire « bioressources marines », université Badji-Mokhtar-Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, 23000 Annaba, Algeria.
authors.forename: Hocine
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frehi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire « bioressources marines », université Badji-Mokhtar-Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, 23000 Annaba, Algeria.
authors.forename: Lembarek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ayada
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, laboratoire Environnement Ressources Languedoc-Roussillon, BP 171, 34203 Sète, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abadie
authors.affiliation: UMR 5119, UM2-CNRS-IRD, Écologie des systèmes marins côtiers, université Montpellier 2, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France. Electronic address: yves.collos@univ-montp2.fr.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Collos
mesh_terms: D000462:Algeria; D000818:Animals; D061006:Bays; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005602:France; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll; D010758:Phosphorus
keywords: Alexandrium catenella/tamarense; Algeria; Algérie; Blooms; Efflorescences; France; Mediterranean; Méditerranée