Use of Stable Nitrogen Isotope Signatures of Anthropogenic Organic Matter in the Coastal Environment: The Case Study of the Kosirina Bay (Murter Island, Croatia)

Abstract

In this study stable nitrogen isotope ratios of particulate matter POM, zooplankton and selected biota such as Mytilus galloprovincialis were used to assess the impact of anthropogenically derived organic matter from the untreated domestic sewage, municipal and industrial effluents on the coastal ecosystem of the Kosirina Bay (Murter Island). The differences in δ15N values observed in POM and organisms collected in Kosirina Bay as compared to POM and biota sampled at unaffected sites from the southern part of the Kornati Island and highly impacted Pirovac Bay revealed only a very minor effects of anthropogenic inputs of nutrients and organic matter which is most probably derived from a sewage outfall south of the Tužbina Island.

Keywords

• particulate organic matter (POM), zooplankton, Mytilus galloprovincialis, sewage, Kosirina Bay, Murter Island, Central Adriatic