Recovery of the macrozoobenthic community of the Comacchio lagoon system (northern Adriatic Sea)

From 1976 to 1992 the Comacchio lagoon system (a polyhaline lagoon on the northern Adriatic Sea coast) was exploited for intensive farming of eels and other fish. This activity, and its consequent increased release of organic matter, has led to hypereutrophication of the lagoon, resulting in a bloom of cyanobacteria and all almost total elimination of cukaryotes at both the planktonic and benthic level. After farming stopped, the ecological conditions tended to improve and the macrozoo-benthic community underwent a spectacular recovery The current communities do not differ substantially fi om those present before this ecological catastrophe, with the exception of a low level of internal differentiation not only among different lagoon sites but air, different substrates.