Microbial respiration and trophic regimes in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea)

Remineralization in the Northern Adriatic Sea has been examined by studying the respiratory rates, through electron transport system activity, in four systems identified on the basis of different salinities, caused by riverine outflows, and different productivity regimes measured by apparent oxygen utilization. The sea waters influenced by river discharges were characterized by high respiratory activity while in fully marine waters respiration fell close to the typical value for the surface pelagic Mediterranean waters. A speculative approach to quantify the trophic balance in the examined sub-systems was adopted and the following ratios were computed: Primary Production/Respiration (PP/R); Primary Production/(Bacterial Production + Respiration) [PP/(BP + R)]; (Dissolved Organic Carbon + Particulate Organic Carbon)/Respiration [(DOC + POC)/R], using the data generated at the same time from the same multidisciplinary cruises. High variability of these metabolic ratios in the described subsystems occurred, so that shifting autotrophy and heterotrophy patterns through summer-winter and cross-productivity front trends occurred. Episodic heterotrophy has been found to happen in the North Adriatic Sea, although this is normally considered a productive ecosystem.