Identification of Type-Specific Phytoplankton Reference Conditions in Türkiye's Coastal Water Bodies

Abstract

Type-specific reference conditions for phytoplankton, along with models linked to relevant environmental factors, have been identified for T & uuml;rkiye's coastal water bodies. Phytoplankton and water samples were seasonally collected (spring, summer, and fall) from 78 stations across 16 different water body types in the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Marmara Seas with in the REFCOND project of T & uuml;rkiye between 2016 and 2020. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was employed to identify the most significant environmental parameter associated with phytoplankton biomass, with total phosphorus (TP) emerging as the key parameter. The CCA indicated that the first axis accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance (72.26%), and ANOVA confirmed that only this axis was statistically significant. Phytoplankton biomass was deemed crucial for assessing the ecological status of coastal waters. Numerous statistically significant regressions linked phytoplankton biomass and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass) to TP. For the first time, reference conditions and class boundaries for both phytoplankton biomass and Chl-a were established across all 16 water body types in T & uuml;rkiye's coastal waters.