Northern Tyrrhenian Sea from 42° 18'N and 44° N between Tuscan coast and Corsica channel

Particulate total and organic carbon concentrations in the water column; Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies; Particulate total and organic nitrogen concentrations in the water column; Nitrate concentration parameters in the water column; Nitrite concentration parameters in the water column; Salinity of the water column; Temperature of the water column; Phytoplankton taxonomic abundance in water bodies; Density of the water column

Fluorometers; radiometers; discrete water samplers; optical microscopes; spectrophotometers

The 'PROGETTO MARE' was a multidisciplinary program carried out by 11 research groups dealing with different aspects of the marine ecosystem (benthos, hydrodynamics, zoobenthos, phytobenthos, heavy metals, zooplankton, water-air interface properties). Its aim was to study for the first time, the spatial variations and temporal evolution, at a seasonal scale, of the biological, chemical and physical conditions of the whole Northern Tyrrhenian Sea. The Laboratory of Ecology carried out 11 oceanographic cruises, from 1982 to 1989, sampling a total of 837 sites. The great amount of data collected (about 27,000 measurements, samples and analysis) allowed us to give evidence of some general and constant characteristics of the Tyrrhenian waters, to know the temporal evolution of the water column, the seasonal cycle of phytoplankton biomass, the population ecological succession and the trophic conditions of the different water masses. Every site was sampled at 0, 10, 25, 50, 100 m and every 100 m further on until the bottom. Vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, density, dissolved oxygen and pH (by means of multiparametric probe) and of downwelling, upwelling and scalar PAR quantic irradiance (by means of photoprobe equipped with LICOR sensors) were taken. Samples were collected to analyze phytoplankton pigments (Jeffrey and Humphrey, 1975, Biochem. Physiol. Plant. 167: 191-194; Lorenzen, 1967, Limnol. Oceanogr. 12: 343-346) and nutrients (Strickland and Parsons, 1972, Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 167), suspended particulate matter (Strickland and Parsons, 1972, Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 167), phytoplankton density (Hasle, 1978, Unesco Monogr. Oceanogr. Methods 6: 88-96) and species composition. Data are arranged in tables of parameters for each cruise, in vertical profiles and maps.

Universita' di Firenze, Laboratorio di Ecologia, Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale
Via P.A. Michelini 1
Firenze

50121
Italy