Phytoplankton as an Indicator of Improving Water Quality in the Golden Horn Estuary |
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Authors: | Seyfettin Tas I Noyan Yilmaz Erdogan Okus |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Marine Sciences and Management, Istanbul University, Muskule Sk. 1, Vefa, 34116 Istanbul, Turkey |
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Abstract: | The variation in phytoplankton community as a response to improving water quality has been studied in the severely polluted
Golden Horn Estuary (GHE). Phytoplankton data collected monthly for 4 years and a detailed set of environmental parameters
clearly showed the remarkable change in the GHE. The GHE ecosystem did not respond to numerous rehabilitation efforts to improve
water quality, unless strict measures were taken to enhance water circulation. The opening of a bridge operating on large
buoys and release of high amounts of fresh water from a dam acted as the turning point for the whole system. The weakening
of light limitation and anoxia at upper regions is followed by consecutive blooms of different species/groups and resulted
in super-saturated dissolved oxygen concentrations and a significant decrease in nutrient concentrations. When compared to
the pre-remediation period, average total eukaryotic phytoplankton abundance increased 11-fold in the lower estuary, while
the increase in the upper estuary was over 3 × 104 in the post-remediation period. In addition, species richness continuously increased through the study period and community
structure showed very strong variability. Since the estuarine ecosystem is controlled by precipitation in the last decade,
the increase in anthropogenic/terrestrial inputs following heavy rainfall had adversely affected water quality and phytoplankton. |
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