Response of the phytoplankton community to the cessation of wastewater discharges in the urdaibai estuary (SE bay of biscay) based on PIGMENTUM analysis of HPLC pigments

Abstract

Phytoplankton responds rapidly to nutrient availability variations, becoming a useful indicator for eutrophication and/or management actions to reduce it. The present study evaluated the medium-term response of the phytoplankton community of a temperate estuary (Urdaibai estuary) to the cessation of discharges from a wastewater treatment-plant (WWTP), comparing the physicochemical conditions and the phytoplankton community before (2020) and after (2022) the sewerage works. The cessation led to a decrease of ammonium and phosphate, causing decreases of phytoplankton biomass in the outer and middle estuary and increases in the surroundings of the WWTP. Community composition also changed, recording an increase of prasinoxanthin-containing algae's contribution to total biomass, and a composition shift in the inner estuary, from mainly flagellates (alloxanthin-containing and chlorophyll b-containing algae) to the increase of diatoms, which could be prompted by the change of nutrient-ratios and the nitrogen source, and might indicate the recuperation of the system.