Seasonal variations of phytoplankton biomass and environmental conditions in the inner Boka Kotorska Bay (Eastern Adriatic sea)

Abstract

Nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations were analysed at five sampling stations in the inner part of the Boka Kotorska Bay (southern Adriatic Sea), in the period September 2003 to August 2004. Maximum concentrations of nitrates (14.4 μmol L-1), nitrites (3.5 μmol L-1), phosphates (0.84 μmol L-1), and silicates (4.5 μmol L-1) preceded maximum phytoplankton biomass (5.07 to 6.47 mg m-3 chlorophyll a) in December. Chlorophyll a was positively correlated with oxygen, nitrites and silicates, but negatively correlated with temperature, salinity, transparency and nitrates. Kotor Bay is the most eutrophied environment in the eastern coastal Adriatic Sea.