title: Benthic ecosystem functioning in the severely contaminated Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Italy): focus on heterotrophic pathways.
abstract: The benthic ecosystem functioning is a rarely applied holistic approach that integrates the main chemical and biological features of the benthic domain with the key processes responsible for the flux of energy and C through the system. For the first time, such conceptual model, with an emphasis on the heterotrophic pathways, has been applied to the sediments at four stations within one of the most polluted coastal areas in Italy: the Mar Piccolo of Taranto. The functioning of the benthic ecosystem was different according to the investigated site. Nearby the military arsenal, i.e., the main source of organic contaminants and heavy metals, the system seemed inhibited at all the investigated structural and functional levels. Slow microbial processes of C reworking together with very limited densities of benthic fauna suggested a modest transfer of C both into a solid microbial loop and to the higher trophic levels. On the other hand, the ingression of marine water through the "Navigabile" channel seemed to stimulate the organic matter degradation and, consequently, the proliferation of meiofauna and macrofauna. In the innermost part of the basin, the system functioning, to some extent, is less impacted by contaminants and more influenced by mussel farms. The organic matter produced by these bivalves fueled faster C reworking by benthic prokaryotes and enhanced the proliferation of filter feeders.
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy. afranzo@ogs.trieste.it.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franzo
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Auriemma
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nasi
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy.|Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via Licio Giorgieri 5, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vojvoda
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via Licio Giorgieri 5, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pallavicini
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cibic
authors.affiliation: OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale), Sezione Oceanografia, v. A, Piccard 54, 34151, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Del Negro
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D020387:Food Chain; D007558:Italy; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Benthic communities; Contamination; Ecosystem functioning; Heterotrophic pathways; Mar Piccolo of Taranto; Organic enrichment; Sediments; Semi-enclosed basin