Patonai Katalin, Lanzoni Mattia, Castaldelli Giuseppe, Jordán Ferenc, Gavioli Anna
Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 8;20(1):e0313416. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313416. eCollection 2025.
Coastal lagoons, which cover about 13% of coastline, are among the most productive ecosystems worldwide. However, they are subject to significant stressors, both natural and anthropogenic, which can alter ecosystem services and functioning and food web structure. In the Comacchio Lagoon (Northern Italy), eutrophication, among other minor factors, transformed the ecosystem in the early 1980s. Here, we compiled available data for the lagoon into trophic networks (pre- and post-transformation), analyzed the ecosystem using local and global network analysis, and computed trophic fluxes of the two periods. For comparability, the networks of two periods (i.e., pre- and post- transformation) were aggregated into food webs with 23 nodes. We found differences in the trophic networks before and after eutrophication, resulting in some decrease in complexity, increase of flow diversity, and an overall shortening of the food chain. A crucial aspect of this change is the disappearance of submerged vegetation in the lagoon and the increased importance of cyanobacteria in the post-eutrophication period. We provide an approach to better understand ecosystem changes after severe disturbances which can be extended to biodiversity conservation and for the management of coastal resources in general.
沿海泻湖覆盖了约13%的海岸线，是全球生产力最高的生态系统之一。然而，它们受到自然和人为等重大压力源的影响，这些压力源会改变生态系统服务、功能以及食物网结构。在科马基奥泻湖（意大利北部），富营养化以及其他一些次要因素在20世纪80年代初改变了该生态系统。在此，我们将该泻湖的现有数据整理成营养网络（转变前和转变后），运用局部和全局网络分析对生态系统进行分析，并计算两个时期的营养通量。为便于比较，将两个时期（即转变前和转变后）的网络聚合为具有23个节点的食物网。我们发现富营养化前后营养网络存在差异，导致复杂性有所降低、流动多样性增加以及食物链整体缩短。这一变化的一个关键方面是泻湖内沉水植被的消失以及富营养化后蓝藻的重要性增加。我们提供了一种方法，以更好地理解严重干扰后生态系统的变化，该方法可推广到生物多样性保护以及一般沿海资源的管理。
